Ghosts
by SakuraMoriChan
Summary: Arthur Kirkland and Alfred F. Jones can both see ghosts, and live together with a friendly spirit named Kiku Honda. Arthur makes a living out of helping ghosts move on. Alfred...well, he just hangs out with Arthur and Kiku.
1. Chapter 1

_Until I get further in my stories, this is just a one shot XD I will continue it one day though XD_

* * *

"And now I just need the ice-cream" Alfred said happily, trying hard not to drop his shopping as he reached for the frozen desserts. "Kiku said he liked ice-cream too...Wait, can he even eat this stuff?" he asked himself suddenly. He shrugged. If Kiku couldn't have it then he'd eat it himself.

"I haven't seen you around before" the albino at the till said, with a mix of cheerfulness and curiosity. "Did you move here recently?" he asked as he started checking out the American's shopping.

"Yep, I'm Alfred! I moved here last month. I live down the road with Arthur and Kiku" Alfred grinned.

"I'm Gilbert" the German replied before frowning. "But if you've been living here for a month, then I should have at least seen you somewhere..."

Alfred shrugged again. "We've been unpacking a lot of stuff so I haven't been able to go out much. We also had a few problems when we first moved in...But Arthur had to go out of town for a few days for a funeral so I have to do the shopping while he's gone"

"And you said you lived down the road...the only place that's been sold in that area recently was..." Gilbert's eyes widened. "Seriously? You live in that old haunted place?"

Alfred's smile faltered. "Haunted? Huh?"

"Yeah, didn't you know?" Gilbert lowered his voice to a whisper. "A long time ago, some really old guy who lived in that house was pushed down the stairs. He died instantly. It's said that his spirit still wanders around that house, looking for his killer. It's also said that his ghost curses all who live in that house..."

"R-really?" Alfred gulped. He _hated _ghost stories. And ghosts.

"Yeah" Gilbert smirked "You must be pretty brave to dare living in that house...or just stupid" he snickered.

"B-but it's just a story, right?" Alfred asked nervously.

"Oh, sure!" Gilbert said casually "But I'll tell you what. I usually get fired from any job after a week. Since I'm so awesome, I'll go and check on you to see if you're still alive"

Alfred nodded weakly as he picked up his shopping. His house...so there was some scary ghost living there? Arthur never said anything about that! Maybe Kiku would know something about this evil thing...

But if there was something bad living there, would they have to move? Alfred shook his head firmly. He really liked their new town. The neighbors were really friendly and their house was _huge_. The first time Arthur had shown him it, he had yelled really loudly "Wow, Arthur! This isn't a house, it's a fricken _mansion!"_ Alfred had only ever lived in small houses and flats all his life, which was why he was so shocked about their new home.

And then there was Kiku...Alfred had become good friends with the Japanese man over the past few weeks, and they couldn't just leave him at that house with some murderous spirit on the loose! Maybe Arthur could get rid of it somehow...Didn't he do that for a living? Although, it was usually nice ghosts he helped pass on...

"Hey, Kiku? I'm home!" Alfred called as he somehow managed to open the door without losing his grip on the bags.

The Japanese man seemed to materialize in front of him "Welcome back, Alfred-san" he said warmly.

"Thanks. Hey, can you eat ice-cream?" Alfred started searching inside one of the shopping bags.

"I've actually been getting better at eating solids. If it's just ice-cream, I should be able to eat it" Kiku said determinedly.

"Okay, here" The American tossed the small tub of ice-cream to the other man across the room.

It passed right through him.

"Ah, hell! Sorry!" Alfred said sheepishly, going over to pick up the fallen ice-cream tub.

Kiku held up his hand "It's fine. I've been getting better at picking things up too" he knelt down and attempted clutching the container. After passing through it a few times he managed to get a firm grip on it. "See?" he said as he shakily brought it up.

"Dude, that's awesome, Kiku!" Alfred said cheerfully. He frowned suddenly. "Oh, that's right! I heard this creepy ghost story while I was shopping! Apparently there's some evil ghost that died in this house, and now curses all who live here..."

Kiku gasped. "What? But, I'm sure that I'm the only ghost that lives here..."

"That's what I thought! This guy was meant to of been pushed down the stairs...A bit like how you died..." Alfred said thoughtfully.

"But I wasn't pushed, I tripped" Kiku said worriedly.

"Yeah..." Alfred cried out as an idea came to him. "Dude! What if this ghost lived in this house before you, and cursed the stairs that he fell down so that people trip and fall down the stairs and die just like him!" the American said, horrified.

"Oh no!" Kiku said in shock. "B-but I was sure that I was the only spirit that lived here...but if he can make people fall down stairs, who knows what else this ghost could do!"

After that, they hid inside one of the closets, two scared of being attacked by an evil spirit to leave. They didn't stop to think that the ghost in that story could have been Kiku himself.

So Arthur was a little surprised when he finally returned home to find himself tackled by a sobbing American and a Japanese ghost.

"You wouldn't believe it Artie! There's another spirit in this house, and it's some really evil one that curses people and stairs!" Alfred cried loudly.

"Arthur-san! This could be dangerous for you and Alfred-san! You two should stay away from any stairs just to be safe..." Kiku said quickly.

"W-what are you two talking about?" Arthur said in alarm.

"The other ghost here!" Alfred said shakily. "He was pushed down the stairs and now he curses all stairs so that people fall down them, like Kiku did! I heard about it from some albino guy! This place is haunted!"

Arthur looked from Alfred, to Kiku and then back to Alfred again. "...You're both idiots" he said finally.

* * *

_Like I said at the start, this will just be a one-shot for a while XD But I just wanted to write it down so that I didn't forget it XD Now when I finish some other story I can get back to this ^0^ Please review and tell me what you think ^_^_


	2. Chapter 2

_Due to popular demand, I'm continuing this sooner then I would of expected XD This means I've got about eight ongoing stories...Aren't I smart? :D It's just that I kept thinking of storylines for this thing so...It'll be easy to write this if I get writers block on any of my other stories I guess..._

* * *

"Hey, Artie? Can you help me paint my room? The colour's so boring..." Alfred called to Arthur from the top of the stairs.

"Only if you pay for the paint yourself" the Brit replied without looking up from his letters. They'd only been living there a month and they'd already gotten so many bills...

"You know I don't have any money!" Alfred said in outrage.

Arthur looked up this time, a faint smirk on his face. "You could always get something called a 'job'...Or have you never heard of those?"

"Geez, since when were you my mother?" Alfred scowled "And it's not like you have a very good job. All you do is wait around for someone to call you and say there's a ghost in there house...Well, it's not like anyone actually calls you..."

"Hey, I have helped lots of people and ghosts" Arthur said irritably. "And I'm not the one who got excluded from three schools in one year!"

"Dude, you know that wasn't my fault!"

"That's not the point. You should get a job, or at the very least help around the house!" Arthur huffed slightly.

"Oh, did I say 'mother' before? You're more like my wife!" the American said in an annoyed tone.

Arthur frowned "I'm serious" he sighed as the doorbell rang "I'll get it...you just...play that Luigi Cart thing with Kiku"

"It's _Mario Cart_. _Mario"_ but Alfred was smiling "Oh, and if it's some old lady talking about a broken fence, tell her I'm not in"

"A broken fence? What?" Arthur would of asked more if the American hadn't already gone. He opened the door as the bell rang again. "Hello?"

"Ah, good morning" A young blonde man with a German accent greeted politely. Next to him was a shorter albino man, with a grin that told Arthur it'd be best to keep an eye on him, stared at the Brit with eyes full of curiousity. "My name is Ludwig, and this is my older brother Gilbert"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Arthur Kirkland" Arthur tried to say cheerfully "Can I help you?"

"Well, Gilbert told me that he had met someone called Alfred a few days ago. I figured it be good to introduce ourselfs properly" Ludwig smiled.

"Oh" Arthur said awkwardly. He held the door open "Well then, would you like to come in?"

Ludwig nodded before walking inside. Gilbert seemed more hesitant but followed his younger brother.

"...Would you two like a cup of tea?" Arthur asked after a small silence.

"I don't drink tea" Gilbert said immediately. "Is that Alfred guy in?"

"Yes, he's up stairs with Kiku" Arthur said while Ludwig scolded his brother for being rude.

Gilbert smirked "I'll go and see him, if that's all right with you. I want to see how he's doing with that ghost story I told him..."

"Ghost story? You mean that thing about someone cursing stairs?" Arthur asked. That was all he had managed to get out of Alfred and Kiku after they had finished panicking and crying.

"Huh...?" Gilbert looked at him blankly.

"Nevermind. I don't know exactly where Alfred is, he tends to change the room he uses to play video games, but you should be able to find him" Arthur pointed to a set of stairs. Gilbert just smiled and began to jump up them, two steps at a time.

"Sorry about my brother" Ludwig sighed when Gilbert was out of earshot.

"It's fine. He reminds me of Alfred in a way" Arthur smiled sympathetically "Let me guess, Gilbert lives with you, doesn't have a job, and expects you to do all of the important things for him"

"Pretty much. Except he usually does get a job, but they tend to fire him after a week..." Ludwig laughed lightly. "So...is Alfred your brother, or...?

Arthur shook his head "No, no. We're not related at all"

"So...he's your boy-"

_"No!"_ Arthur said, a little too quickly. "He's just a friend, or an acquaintance, or..." he exhaled in a halfhearted attempt to calm down. "He just appeared on my doorstep one day, ate the food in my fridge that he said was 'actually edible', and fell asleep on my couch" Arthur smiled faintly as he thought back "I've been stuck with him ever since"

Ludwig chuckled as they walked into one of the living rooms. He looked around in surprise. "It's a little bare..." The room only had a couch and a small table.

"I used to live in a flat so I don't have much furniture to fill the rooms with" Arthur said, a little awkwardly. "And the telly was 'accidentally' broken when we were unpacking after we moved"

"...How can you 'accidentally' brake a TV?"

"Alfred freaked out when he first saw Kiku and threw it at him" Arthur sighed "It passed through him, of course, but the glass smashed when it hit the floor.

Ludwig looked at the Brit, puzzled. "Kiku...?"

"He owned the house before me" Arthur explained. "He didn't look dangerous, and he actually seemed kind of happy when I bought this house, so I didn't want to make him leave"

"I see..." Ludwig said thoughtfully "But wasn't the man who owned this house before supposed to of died?"

"Well..." Arthur trailed of, trying to think of a way to end that sentence. He knew that not many people could see ghosts, or even believed in them. When he was little, anyone he ever told about the ghosts would look at him like he was crazy...

He clapped his hands together "How about that tea?" Arthur asked brightly.

* * *

"This place is _huge!_" Gilbert said loudly, grinning as his voice echoed of the bare walls. He knew that the price had dropped a lot since the old place had gone up for sale, almost everyone had refused to buy it because of all of the ghost stories. He didn't really believe in it anyway, Gilbert just loved seeing people's faces when he told it to them.

Although, one time a few of his friends had decided to sneak inside the ancient building and sleep there for the night (Ludwig had decided that on that particular night, Gilbert was going to help him clean their home. Which meant he couldn't go) All of them had ran out of that house screaming. Apparently, all of the doors would open on their own, and at one point a quiet voice had asked them politely if they would like a drink.

"Not here..." Gilbert mumbled as he opened the door to _another _empty room. "Do they _really _need this much space?"

He reached for the next door, but suddenly staggered, nearly falling to his knees. What the hell? It felt like...something cold had just passed through him...

"O-oh! Please excuse me! I-I didn't notice you there...I'm really sorry!" Gilbert quickly turned around in surprise. A shorter asian man was looking at him worriedly. But there was something...different about him.

"You're see-though" Gilbert said numbly. It was true, the Japanese man was transparent, but not enough for him to be completely invisible.

The asian man's eyes widened. "Oh! Do you have a phobia of ghosts too? Please excuse me, I'm not dangerous, but if I'm still a bother to you, I can just go to some other room..." he said, a hint of disapointment in his voice.

"...Ghosts? S-so you're..."

"Hey, Kiku? what's going on?" a familar voice asked.

"Alfred...?" Gilbert asked as the American walked down the hall.

Alfred grinned "Oh, hi Gilbert! What's up?"

"It's...who...?" the German pointed to the Japanese man who seemed to be wondering if it'd be better to leave or not.

"That's Kiku. He's my friend" Alfred said happily. "He's actually really good at video games"

"And..." Gilbert stared at Kiku, who was looking away in embarrassment. "He's a..."

"Yeah, he's a ghost" Alfred said nonchalantly. "He freaked me out a little when we first moved here, but he's actually pretty nice once you get to know him" he paused suddenly "Wait, you can actually see him? Dude, that's awesome! Do you know how annoying it is that the only other person I've ever known to be able to see them is Arthur? Everyone always thought I was crazy! But-!"

But Gilbert wasn't listening. He was still too busy staring at Kiku "A ghost...right..." he then decided that this would be a good time to faint.

* * *

_So yeah...I'll try to finish my other stories as soon as possible so that I can work on this too...But don't expect too many updates until then...On a lighter note, are there any pairings that you think I should include? I was thinking of USUK and maybe GerIta...But are there any others I should include? Anyway, please review and tell me what you think ^_^_


	3. Chapter 3

_I say don't expect many updates, and then I update o_O This story seemes really popular so far XD_

* * *

"He's out cold..."

"I knew it...I knew I should just hide when you and Arthur-san have guests..."

"You don't have to do that, Kiku. I mean, how were you supposed to know he could see you?"

"Exactly. There's no way for me to know. Maybe I should just hide in the attic, where I won't bother anyone. It's not like I need food or water anymore. I could just stay there forever and never have to leave..."

"Dude, I'm not letting you go into solitude or become a hikikomori or whatever just because you made some guy faint."

Gilbert groaned, wondering what the hell those voices were talking about. And why was he on the floor? He was going to see that Alfred guy, and then...

"Hey, I think he's waking up" the German opened his eyes sluggishly, blinking at the light. Two people were looking down at him worriedly. He recognised Alfred...And the Japanese guy was...

He sat up suddenly, jumping away from the two men "Y-you're..." Gilbert pointed a trembling finger at Kiku. "You're a ghost...You're dead!"

"Y-yes, that's true..." Kiku edged away from Gilbert slightly. "I used to live here on my own a long time ago. But one day I tripped and fell down the stairs" Kiku bit his lip. "I woke up afterwards and I was surprised to find that my house was full of people in uniform. I suppose that they were probably the police. I didn't understand why they couldn't see me, but then I heard one of them say my neck had snapped when I hit the floor, and that I had died instantly..."

Gilbert's eyes widened "S...So you're the ghost in that story...?"

Kiku frowned. "I thought that story was about someone who was pushed down the stairs?"

"Ah...J-just forget about that! I...I couldn't ghosts before this...Why can I see him now?"

Alfred looked thoughtful for a few seconds but then shrugged. "Not sure. Arthur said that pretty much everyone has the power to communicate with ghosts in some way, but that they usually need something to unlock that power" he smiled slightly at the way Gilbert was still staring at Kiku. "Until about five years ago, I couldn't see ghosts either. But then..." the American's expression seemed to darken, but he shook it off and smiled again. "Anyway, suddenly I could see ghosts as if they were normal people. But I've been scared of ghosts since I was a kid, so let's just say I didn't take it well..." Alfred laughed, a little awkwardly.

"I..." Gilbert scowled in confusion. "Wait, you said you could see them like 'normal people', but the Japanese guy looks kind of transparent or translucent or whatever to me"

"Really?" Alfred glanced at Kiku. "He looks solid to me...Maybe your spirit seeing powers are just weaker or something..."

"...Weaker?" Gilbert couldn't keep the offended tone out of his voice.

Alfred didn't notice. "Yeah. Okay, maybe we should tell Arthur about this. He's better at explaining that whole 'ghost seeing' thing..."

"You mean that old British guy can see ghosts too?"

"Yep. But he said he's been able to see them ever since he was little"

Gilbert stood up slowly, trying to keep his distance from the Japanese ghost. "I guess asking him about it couldn't hurt...Um...The Japanese guy can't possess me...can he?"

Kiku shook his head quickly "I...I can't...At least I don't think I can...I haven't tried..."

"Don't worry, he's harmless" Alfred laughed. "He's just as scared of you as you are of him"

"...I'm not a spider, Alfred-san..."

* * *

"So why did you move here?" Ludwig asked when Arthur came back with two cups of tea.

He set them down on the small wooden table, sitting down next to the German. "Well, I only lived in a small flat in the city with Alfred before, so I've wanted to move somewhere bigger" Arthur explained, sipping his tea quietly. "I saw this house was for sale. It was unusually cheap, and the area around here is much more quiet then where I lived before, so I figured I should buy it"

Ludwig nodded thoughtfully, drinking his own tea a little cautiously. "So...This might sound a little strange, since we've only just met, but what about your job? Did you keep the same one from where you lived before, or did you get a new one when you came here?"

"Ah..." Arthur started embarrassedly "I kept my old job...It's sort of a business I started...I help ghosts move on from this world"

The German blinked at him. "Isn't that...a little..."

"I know it sounds weird, but it really does help people. Although, at my old home everyone described me as the 'crazy guy who talks to ghosts' because of it" Arthur laughed nervously. "But...It is a useful job...Some ghosts who are in this world can turn violent. This can either make them dangerous or extremely annoying..."

There was a sudden thudding down the stairs, followed by a call of _"Artiiiiie!"_

"Speaking of annoying..." Arthur muttered under his breath.

"Hey, Artie!" Alfred yelled as he burst into the room. "Gilbert can see Kiku!"

Arthur was about to make some kind of sarcastic remarke about this, but then remembered who Kiku was. Or rather, _what _he was. "He can? But..."

He stood up as Gilbert entered the room, slower yet somehow more urgently then Alfred had "Why can I see that Japanese ghost guy?" he asked immediately, gesturing to Kiku who was dithering slightly by the door to the living room. "And how can I _not _see him? I mean, being able to talk to ghosts is probably pretty awesome, but seeing dead people is still kind of freaky, and-!"

"Brother" Ludwig cut in. "What are you talking about?"

"The ghost that lives here! I just met him. He's some super polite Japanese man called Kiku! See?" Gilbert pointed at Kiku, who had somehow found the courage to go into the room fully.

Ludwig looked at the place where Kiku was standing blankly. "But, brother...There's no one there..."

All eyes in the room turned to the blonde German in surprise, causing Ludwig to wonder what he had said to make them stare at him like that.

"You really can't see him?" Gilbert finally asked.

Ludwig shook his head. "No...I really can't see anyone there..."

While Gilbert and Ludwig were still half talking, half arguing about whether Kiku was truly there or not, Alfred stepped towards Arthur.

"Artie, shouldn't Ludwig be able to see Kiku too if Gilbert can?" Alfred whispered.

Arthur shrugged. "I'm not too sure about how psychic powers work. What could be a trigger to allow someone to see spirits could have absolutely no effect on someone else. Take you and your own brother, for example"

Alfred nodded, a little stiffly. "Hey...um...is it okay if you don't use my brother as an example? You know that I've not spoken to him in about...four years..."

"Ah...right..." Arthur said sheepishly. "Sorry..."

"It's fine...it's just..." Alfred sighed sadly. "I never told him I went to live with you...I didn't even tell him we moved out here...And I kind of miss him..."

The Brit looked at him, almost sympathetically. "Alfred...You should probably know...I've-"

"Hey, you two!" Gilbert yelled suddenly. "Tell him I'm not crazy!" he whined as he pointed at Ludwig, sounding very much like a small child on the loosing end of an argument.

"Gilbert-san" Kiku said nervously "I don't think you're crazy, so..."

"Hey, you're the _reason_ he thinks I'm insane!" Gilbert snapped, causing Kiku to shrink away in alarm.

Ludwig stared at Gilbert worriedly, wondering why his brother was shouting at air. "I don't think you're crazy" he said slowly. "But most people would think that you need some kind of help if you start talking to...well...nothing"

"I'm_ not!" _Gilbert moaned. "Alfred, Arthur, tell him!"

"Brother, maybe we should go home...Maybe you're just tired..." Ludwig grabbed the albino's shoulder. "Thanks for the tea" Ludwig said to Arthur, ignoring his brother's complaints.

"No problem" Arthur said simply. He looked at Alfred and gestured to Ludwig. The American smiled as he understood what Arthur meant, for once.

"Yo, Ludwig! You should come visit some other time! You know..." Alfred chatted to the German rapidly, barely letting Ludwig get a word in edgeways.

"There are only a few things you need to know" Arthur whispered to Gilbert while Ludwig was distracted. "First, ghosts like Kiku, who hold no malice, are generally safe to talk to. Try and stay away from restless ghosts. They're the ones who usually died in fear or saddness, and they can turn violent easily. If they start following you around, then they probably want your help. And you _really_ need to stay away from ghosts who died full of anger. They're almost always dangerous, and will most likely try to kill you"

Gilbert stared at Arthur, trying to find any sign that the Brit was joking. "But...how can I tell which is which-?"

"Brother" Ludwig cut in "We need to go" he managed to pull Gilbert into the hallway, even though the slightly smaller German was struggling as hard as he could. "I'm sure you'll be able to visit then again _another _time" he nodded a goodbye to the two he could see, closing the front door behind him.

"So..." Alfred said after an awkward silence "Kiku, want to go back to playing Mario Cart?"

* * *

_This chapter was half planned, half made up on the spot XD But I do have plans for this story ^0^ One day, we'll go into detail about Alfred and why he hasn't spoken to his brother (Matthew, in case you don't know XD) in so long XD And about Arthur's past too, and how he and Alfred started seeing ghosts and how they met...Anyway, please review and tell me what you think ^_^_


	4. Chapter 4

_I...really like writing this story for some reason o_O It's just so easy..._

* * *

_A few weeks earlier..._

Francis Bonnefoy was not in a good mood. His boss had yelled at him again, had threatened to fire him again, and made him stay at work late to finish paper work that he really could of done at home or early the next morning...again.

All he wanted to do was go home. But someone must of had a grudge againt the Frenchman, and had placed a red light at every turn.

He continued down the road. He wasn't above the speed limit, he wasn't drunk, he wasn't talking on a mobile. Francis was doing everything a good driver should do.

But that still didn't mean he was prepared for when that girl stepped out into the road.

He hit immediately hit the breaks, swearving in a desperate attempt to stop himself from hitting her. But it was hopeless, the car still crashed into her, knocking her across the road.

Francis had no time to react to this, as soon after a loud metalic crunch filled the car. Pain shot through his body before everything went black...

* * *

Arthur sighed loudly as the loud ringing slowly brought him out of a dreamless sleep. Who the bloody hell could be calling them in the middle of the night?

"I'll get it" he yawned to no one in particular. Alfred could sleep through a hurricane, an avalance and volcano eruption all at the same time, and he had no idea if Kiku could sleep at all.

He mumbled a few swears under his breathas he walked to where the phone was. He was seriously thinking of throwing the damn thing out the window at that moment.

"Hello?" Arthur said exasperatedly.

"Hello, Arthur. I'm sorry for calling this late" a familiar voice with a Norwegian accent said calmly.

Arthur blinked. "Lukas?" he asked. He hadn't heard from the Norwegian man since before he had moved. And, wait...

"Lukas, how did you know my phone number?" Arthur asked suddenly. He was sure he hadn't told anyone it yet.

"The same way I know everything" Lukas said simply.

Arthur sighed again. No one understood how, but Lukas always just _knew _things. "Just tell me what's so important that you had to call at-" he glanced at the clock at the over side of the room. "-Two in the morning" he finished.

"Francis Bonnefoy is dead" the words were said casually, but they nearly made Arthur drop the phone from shock.

"Dead...are you sure?" Arthur couldn't help but ask. He had always fought with the Frenchman and had often thought he was annoying, but the Brit had never wanted him to die...No matter how many times he had threatened to kill the damn frog.

"Positive. There was a car accident. Francis was driving and hit a girl. He had swearved to try and avoid her and ended up in front of another car. That car hit his, causing him to smash through the windscreen, and...Actually, that's all I know, but he's definitely dead" Lukas explained. "The girl he hit was still alive, but in critical condition, and was sent to the hospital immediately"

"I...I see..." Arthur said numbly. "Well...thank you for calling, Lukas"

"No problem. Oh, and the funeral will be next week" Lukas added. "Godnatt"

Arthur stared at the phone for a while after Lukas had hung up. _Francis...is really dead? _He sighed again. Since it wasn't a natural death, it was very likely that Francis's spirit would stay in their world. There was just the question of would he choose to stay in that world peacefully, like Kiku, or move on.

"...Arthur-san?" The Brit jumped at the sound of the Japanese ghost.

"K-Kiku" Arthur gasped. "Don't...Don't scare me like that!"

"Ah, I-I'm sorry, Arthur-san, I didn't mean to..." Kiku had stepped back nervously when he saw how surprised Arthur was. "...D-did something happen...?"

Arthur frowned, placing the phone back. "It's just...an old friend called and told me that someone I know, or used to know, is...dead"

Kiku's eyes widened in alarm. "Oh, Arthur-san, I...I'm really sorry..."

"It's fine" Arthur said quickly. "Well, or course it's _not _fine, but...Francis was a childhood frie-...or, maybe enemy would be more accurate...Actually let's just say rival. Whenever we saw each other, we'd always end up arguing and fighting. Anyway, I hadn't heard from him in a few months, but..."

"What're you two doing...?" Alfred yawned loudly, as he sluggishly walked down the stairs. "...It's the middle of the night..."

"An old friend of Arthur-san has died" Kiku said sadly, not noticing the glare Arthur gave him.

"Really? Damn, Artie...You okay?" Alfred asked, looking a little relieved when Arthur nodded slightly. "Okay...Hey, did I know this guy?"

Arthur tried to think back for a second. "I think...He came to visit one Christmas...If I remember correctly, you threw a trifle at him"

"Oh, right! That French guy!" Alfred remembered. "Francis, right? That dude was weird. He flirted with everyone, even Arthur. That's when I threw that weird thing Arthur made"

"Weird? You wasted a perfectly good trifle..."

"Um...I'm a little confused" Kiku spoke up. "Why exactly did you throw a trifle at him?"

"He was trying to flirt with Arthur, why wouldn't I-" he seemed to think about what he had been about to say. "...That trifle was bad anyway. It was completely burnt. And I'm not even sure how that's possible, since you don't even cook trifles"

Arthur huffed. "You ungrateful-! I thought that putting it in the oven would get it done faster. If anything, it gave it an extra crunch"

"Dude, it was _charcoal"_

"Arthur-san...I thought that you only had to put a trifle in the fridge..." Kiku said, a little puzzled.

"Just...just forget it! I'm going back to bed" Arthur said icily. He pushed past the American, only pausing when he got to the top of the stairs. "The funeral's next week. You can either go with me, or stay here. Your choice"

Kiku stared after the Brit who had stomped away. "Arthur-san...I hope he's alright..."

"He'll be fine...So...you going to the funeral?" Alfred asked.

"Even when I was alive, I never went very far from this house..."

"And I only met this Francis guy once or twice" the American shrugged. "And funerals are super depressing...You think Artie'll mind going on his own?"

"He might be blunt at times but he's not always that honest about his feelings" Kiku admitted. "But...Maybe Arthur-san would want to pay his respects to Francis-san himself..."

"True...But if that guy comes back as a ghost and starts flirting with Arthur again, I'm getting another trifle" Alfred's expression was dark as he let the threat hang in the air.

Kiku briefly wondered what Alfred could possibly do if the Frenchman had truly turned into a ghost, then decided he didn't want to know.

* * *

Francis felt...light. It was weird...Maybe he had a hangover again? Damn, his boss was going to kill him if he came in late again...

He opened his eyes, frowning slightly. He could see the sky. That either meant that his roof was missing or that he was outside for some reason.

He sat up, getting increasingly more worried. Why had he been lying down on the road? And...there were so many police cars, and an ambulance...

"Excusez-moi?" Francis asked one of the police officers. "C-could you tell me what happened?"

The police officer didn't say anything, or react to the Franchman's presence at all.

"Hello?" Francis was starting to panic. "Why are you...?" he reached out a hand, in an attempt to get the poilice man's attention.

His hand passed right through him.

Francis jumped back. "What...?" He closed his eyes, trying to calm down. Okay...He had been driving home...and...A girl had stepped into the road. Francis's eyes snapped open. He had hit her. Was she alright? And then...after that...

His eyes widened further then they already were. Another car. He had gone onto the other side and a car had...

He looked down at himself. A car had hit him...So did that mean that...that he was...

"...Merde..." Francis took one last look at the scene around him before numbly staggering away. He was too preoccupied with wondering what he could possibly do next to notice the cold, hateful eyes watching his every move.

* * *

_Yep, Francis is in this story XD Sorry for killing him off so quickly, France fans ^^' But he'll still be in the story, just as a ghost...So...Anyway, please review and tell me what you think ^_^_


	5. Chapter 5

_Update XD In case it wasn't very obvious, the last chapter was based a few weeks before the first chapter XD Sorry if that wasn't very clear...^^' This chapter's in present time though XD_

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"Alfred-san?" Kiku attempted to shake the American awake gently, sighing when his hand passed right through the curled up form. "Alfred-san!" he said, a little louder.

Alfred groaned, stretching slightly as his eyes slowly opened. "Oh...Hey, Kiku" he yawned. "What's up?"

"You slept in" Kiku explained. "Arthur-san told me to wake you up"

With those words, any tiredness that Alfred still felt immediately vanished. "You mean..." he began slowly, "that Arthur woke up before me. So..." The blood drained from Alfred's face. "...He's in the kitchen?"

Before Kiku could ask what was wrong, Alfred leaped out of bed, sprinting out the door and down the hall. He followed quietly, letting himself fade out slightly. When Arthur and Alfred first moved in, Kiku quickly realised that if he wasn't doing anything specific when he was on his own, besides walking, he would sort of vanish. He almost felt like he was in a sort of daze when this happened. But when someone alive entered the same room as him or he started actually doing something, he would reapear.

But he was still only visible to people who could see ghosts. There had been times when he had appeared faintly to other living people, but that was really only for a few seconds. They would often scream and run out the room once they saw him anyway. Arthur and Alfred were the only people he knew who could see him full time. Although, Gilbert could see him too, even if he did say that the Japanese man was rather see-through...

"Stop whatever the hell you're doing!" Kiku was snapped out of his daze by the sound of Alfred yelling. How long had they been in the kitchen for...?

"Good morning to you too" Arthur replied sarcastically.

"What? Oh, morning...But what are you doing?" Alfred had faltered at first, but quickly went back to glaring.

"Making breakfast. What does it look like?" Arthur replied, turning back to what he had been attempting to make.

"Y-you don't have to" Alfred said hurriedly. "I'll make it, so..."

"But you always do" Arthur said simply. "There's nothing wrong with me waking it for a change"

Alfred frowned before sighing irritably. "Whatever, but don't make anything for me. I'll just get myself some cereal"

"Fine, if you insist" Arthur huffed.

Kiku stared at the other two confusedly. It was true that Alfred always seemed to try and wake up before Arthur and would make breakfast for both of them, and sometimes Kiku too. Kiku had just assumed that Alfred was being nice, but it looked like that there may of been another reason as to why Alfred always seemed keen to keep Arthur out of the kitchen. It would probably be the same reason why Alfred would often order take aways or cook microwave meals.

"Is...something wrong?" he couldn't help but ask. Alfred and Arthur both jumped in surprise as they realised that the Japanese ghost was there, but quickly got over it.

"Nothing" Arthur said "It's just that Alfred doesn't appreciate my cooking" this was said almost sullenly.

"Dude, I'd probably appreciate it more if you actually knew _how _to cook" Alfred grinned, pouring some cereal into a bowl.

"I can cook!"

"Then tell me; why did we know the people at the fire department by name at the place we used to live?" Alfred smile turned into a smirk as he started to eat his breakfast.

"You..."

"I-I'm sure Arthur-san's cooking isn't that bad!" Kiku cut in, trying desperately hard to stop a full scale argument.

Alfred only rolled his eyes. "You haven't tried it, Kiku. In fact, don't. You'd probably die again"

"Tosser" Arthur hissed, storming out of the room before Kiku could say anything. He stared after him worriedly. Arthur never acted like that...

_Arthur-san must be really sensitive about his cooking..._Kiku told himself.

"Don't worry about him. He'll cheer up eventually" Alfred laughed, running across the kitchen to stop whatever Arthur had been cooking from catching fire. "It's the same argument everytime. He says he can cook, even though he obviously can't...But when I point it out, he gets super angry with me" he peered at whatever Arthur had been making curiously. "There's no way this can be saved" he muttered, throwing it in the bin.

"But...it did seem like you were a little...blunt?" Kiku said carefully.

"What else can I say?" Alfred shrugged. "Hey, Artie! How long are you going to sulk for?" Alfred called, louder then he had been talking before.

A faint "shut up" was heard from the next room, making Alfred laugh again.

Kiku couldn't help but form a faint smile. _They almost act like a couple...Maybe they could-_

The doorbell rang, causing Kiku to temporarily forget what he had been thinking about.

"Who could that be?" Alfred asked, confused. "Hey, I'm gonna go and check on Arthur. Is it okay if you check to see who's at the door? If it looks like someone important then just call me"

"Okay" Kiku nodded, going towards the door. He stared at it for a few seconds, as if wondering if he should actually go through. Kiku naturally passed through things when he tried to reach for them, but for some reason found that he had to concentrate if he wanted to pass through things like walls or doors. He also found that walking through walls, and people too, made him feel uncomfortable. It didn't exactly hurt, but it also didn't feel right.

He sighed, willing himself to pass through the door. Kiku blinked wildly at the sudden amount of sunlight. He turned his head, looking for the person who had rung the doorbell.

No one was there.

Kiku frowned, holding himself as he shivered slightly. He couldn't see anyone, but it was almost as if he could sense something...

"H-hello?" he called nervously. "Is someone there?" There was no reply, but the Japanese spirit still couldn't shake the cold feeling, even though he was in the sunlight. Maybe it was another ghost? But surely he'd be able to see it then...

The door behind him opened, causing Kiku to jump forward in shock, turning around warily.

Arthur looked at him expectantly. "Kiku? Is something wrong?"

"N-no, Arthur-san" Kiku said sheepishly. He almost ran through the open door, but tried to keep himself composed. He frowned again. The cold feeling...it was gone.

"Arthur-san, you wouldn't happen to be able to see anyone outside, would you?" Kiku couldn't help but ask.

"Huh...? No, I can't see anyone..." Arthur turned to him suspiciously. "Is this supposed to be some kind of prank...? Did Alfred set you up to this?"

"No! I..." Kiku shook his head furiously. "I just thought I could feel something out there...I don't think it was a ghost, but..."

"Is that so...?" Arthur sighed. "If it's bothering you that much, I can call Lukas later. He's good with that type of thing" he started walking down the hall, away from the door. "Oh, and don't tell Alfred. It'll only freak him out. You know what he's like, he probably wouldn't leave his room for a week" Arthur smiled at the idea, starting to climb the stairs.

Kiku nodded, a little half heartedly. He shuddered suddenly as he felt another faint chill.

He shook it off, telling himself that it was nothing, it was just his imagination. There was nothing out there...

Right?

* * *

_Ooooh, something's happening~ XD But it won't get explained until much much later XD Anyway, please review and tell me what you think ^_^_


	6. Chapter 6

_Note: To keep the K+ rating, Romano's not going to swear that much, and will probably just say things like damn and jerk. He'll still be angry though XD _

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"An Italian restaurant?" Arthur looked up at the restaurant sign, titled 'Buono Tomato', a little unsurely. "Why do you want to go here?"

"Well, it might not be as good as burgers, but I still like pizza once in a while" Alfred grinned "And we won't have to call the fire department again!"

"Hey, we haven't called them once" Arthur glared at the American. Why did he always insist on insulting his cooking...?

"Yeah, since we got here. But what about at your old place?" Alfred asked, smirking knowingly.

"S-shut-up! You...You never appreciate anything I do for you!" Arthur huffed, resisting the urge to storm off. That would only make Alfred laugh...

Kiku sighed. Why Alfred always tried to tease Arthur, he would never know. He also didn't understand why Alfred wanted him to go with them when the American told Arthur he wanted to go out for lunch. He was invisible to pretty much everyone, so it would look weird if they ordered for him...He could always share with Arthur or Alfred, although he didn't want to impose on them...

"Yo, Kiku! You coming?" Kiku blinked in surprise, realising that it had been Alfred that had called him. Alfred was standing in the doorway of the small restaurant, holding the door open expectantly. The Japanese ghost quickly ran inside, mumbling a small 'thank you'. He _really _had to stop spacing out like that, it was so embarrassing sometimes.

The inside of the restaurant was rather plain. Wooden tables and chairs with cushions attached were set around the room in an almost random order. Also...

"Dude, it's completely empty!" Alfred said, looking around the silent restaurant.

"Maybe it's not open yet...?" Kiku said nervously.

"Surely it'd be locked then?" Arthur sighed irritably "Hello? Is anyone there?"

There was a sudden shuffling noise at the back, and a few mutters of 'scheiße!' Eventually, a very familiar blonde German entered the room hurriedly.

"I'm sorry for the delay, table for-..." Ludwig paused when he actually saw who he was talking to. "Arthur? Alfred?" he asked, obviously surprised.

"Heya, Ludwig!" Alfred was the first to speak, rather cheerily "You work here?"

"J-ja..." Ludwig answered "So...table for two, right?"

"Yep! Well...Is it okay if we have another seat?" Alfred asked.

"I suppose...Why? Are you expecting someone?"

"You could say that..." Arthur said, glancing at Kiku.

The German lead them to a table near the window. As asked, he gave them another chair, which, unknown to him, Kiku sat down in, thanking Ludwig politely.

"So why's it so empty?" Alfred asked bluntly, earning a light kick from Arthur.

"It's a fairly new restaurant" Ludwig explained "We usually only get one or two customers a week"

"Wow, that's pretty pathet- _AH!_" Alfred rubbed his leg, glaring at Arthur who was pretending he hadn't just bruised the American's shin.

"Anyway...Please take your time to pick your meal" Ludwig sighed, handing menus to Alfred and Arthur before walking away.

"How rude can you be?" Arthur hissed at Alfred who returned the scowl.

"I was only asking!" Alfred defended "And you kicked me _really _hard..." he pouted, opening the menu so that his view of Arthur was blocked.

Arthur only yanked it down again. "Don't you there get in a mood with me!"

"Too bad, I already am!"

Kiku sighed again. _It's like they're a strange mix between a mother and son, and an old married couple..._

Alfred and Arthur stayed in an angry silence after that, not meeting each other eyes as they stiffly read the menus.

"Hey! I've been standing here for five minutes! Are you going to order or not?" the three at the table were snapped out of what Kiku considered an awkward silence by an angry voice with a slight Italian accent.

The brown haired man in front of them growled slightly, his poison green eyes narrowed dangerously. "Hey!" he yelled again "What the hell do you want? I don't have all day!"

"Well...Lovino," Arthur began carefully, reading the name tag on Lovino's shirt. If it had been a few years ago, he would of gotten mad and started a fight with the Italian. But not anymore, Arthur was a gentleman now! "I'll have a lasagne, if that's not _too _much trouble" the last part was laced with sarcasm, making Lovino's eyes narrow even more.

"I'll have a pizza" Alfred grinned, not bothered by the furious Italian in any way "I don't really care what's on it"

"Whatever" Lovino grudgingly wrote down their orders in a small notebook. But he stayed there, still glaring at the ones at the table. "Well? I told you, I don't have all day!"

Arthur and Alfred exchanged puzzled glances "But...We just ordered..." Alfred said, confused.

"Not you, idiot!" Lovino snapped. To everyone's surprise, especially Kiku's, he pointed at the Japanese ghost. "You! Either order or leave!"

"M-me?" Kiku asked, completely shocked.

"Who the hell else would I be talking to? I don't see why-" Lovino paused, suddenly, as if he had just realised something. He peered closer at Kiku, who shuffled in his seat nervously; the Italian's eyes squinted in concentration rather than anger. "Oh, great" Lovino sighed, "We've got a freaking dead guy in here!" He turned, stomping away. "As long as you're not a poltergeist then I don't care if you stay or not, but stay the hell away from me!" he yelled over his shoulder, storming into what Arthur figured was the kitchen, slamming the door.

"Well, he certainly seemed cheery" Arthur muttered cynically.

"Um...What's a poltergeist?" Kiku asked uncertainly.

"I think that's supposed to be one of those ghosts who throw things around in people's homes and stuff..." Alfred explained. He frowned. "Wait...Am I the only one that's weirded out by the fact he could see Kiku?"

"Yes" Arthur said coolly. "We're not the only clairvoyants in the world, you know"

"Clare...what?" Alfred shook his head "Forget it. And anyway, you were surprised when Gilbert could see him" he pointed out.

"That's because, judging by Gilbert's reaction, he couldn't see ghosts before" Arthur looked towards the door suddenly "Speaking of Gilbert..."

Sure enough, the albino was standing in the doorway, grinning at them wildly. "Hey, Alfred, Arthur, and...Kiku..." he faltered when he noticed the polite ghost, but quickly recovered his confident personality. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're having lunch" Alfred smiled back "What about you?"

"I'm visiting Lutz" Gilbert said casually. "He works here, ya know. Some Italian kid called Feliciano asked him to. He said it was so that he'd have more money, but I personally believe it was because it was _Feliciano _that asked him. No matter what he says, my little brother can't hide anything from me, and I know that he li-"

"Um, excuse me" Kiku cut in as respectfully as he could, "But would 'Lutz' be Ludwig-san?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that's my nickname for him" Gilbert laughed. "Ludwig just wasn't awesome enough, so I made it cooler! Great, huh?" his suddenly seemed to turn more serious as he glanced towards the kitchen. "Oh, hey, you should also be careful of Feliciano's older brother, Lovino. He's got anger issues"

"Yes, we've already met him" Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Guess I'm a little late then" Gilbert's tone could have almost been considered sheepish, but then, that wouldn't have been very awesome. "Apparently he's more pissy then normal this week 'cause his and Feliciano's granddad, he owns this restaurant, was feeling ill this week. That's what he's been saying, at least, but I think the real reason is because Antonio, he's another guy who works here, has gone on a holiday to Spain, and it's obvious that Lovino has a crush on-"

Gilbert couldn't finish his sentence, as a tray, with an uncooked pizza still on it, was flung at his head at an inhuman speed. A familiar Italian stood in the kitchen doorway, blushing furiously tomatoes as he glared at the albino. Even as Gilbert collapsed onto his knees, screaming a series of swear words in German as he clutched his head.

"...I guess my order's gonna be a while..." Alfred muttered.

* * *

_...Sorry, everyone, but I've been super busy this week DX So I kind of rushed this chapter to get it done...Which is why not much happened...But I am planning for something to happen next chapter, so please don't give up hope! And, as always, please review and tell me what you think XD_


	7. Chapter 7

_After a super long wait, I finally have the next chapter up XD _

* * *

After an extended wait, the kitchen doors finally opened, revealing another Italian man holding two plates. This one seemed younger, and obviously more cheery than the one before as he bounced across the room to their table. A pale yellow apron was loosely attached to his chest, patterned with random splashes of tomato stains.

Oddly, his eyes were closed. Kiku and Arthur both couldn't help but wonder how he could move around the restaurant so easily. Judging by the way he expertly dodged the random sets of tables and chairs, he had to of either memorised the layout of the building or had some unknown sixth sense. Alfred did not seem to be bothered by this, his attention solely on his long awaited pizza.

"Ve~ Sorry it took so long~!" The Italian sang, placing the dishes on the table. "Ludwig had to treat Gilbert's head injury, and my brother had to go to the quiet room so it was just me in the kitchen! But I'll tell you what, to make up for it, you can have half off any pasta dishes you order the next time you come here, okay?" He hummed to himself happily, as if that was the single most amazing offer in the world. "My name's Feliciano!" He added, gently swaying side to side from where he stood.

"Arthur" The Brit said. He gestured to Alfred who had already started his meal. "And that rude idiot's name is Alfred"

Kiku didn't say anything, merely watching Feliciano carefully. If the Italian's older brother could see him, then….

"It's nice to meet you~" Feliciano said happily "I hope you enjoy your meals! You should definitely try some of the pasta here next time! It's the best! Well, I've never heard of bad pasta, but it's especially good here! The pizza too, but I'll choose pasta over pizza!"

The trio at the table eventually zoned out as Feliciano continued to ramble on about pasta, oblivious to their lack of interest. Types of pasta, pasta sources, the origin of pasta….These were all described in great detail. By the time Feliciano finally stopped, probably for breath, Arthur and Alfred had practically finished their food, except for one small slice of pizza on Alfred's side that he had decided to save at the last minute for Kiku.

"He certainly seems to love pasta…." Kiku thought aloud, not expecting to be heard.

So he was obviously surprised when Feliciano jumped, tensing slightly. "V-ve…." Feliciano looked around nervously, as if trying to find the source of the voice. "That was….I….Um….Ludwig! Big brother! I'm hearing voices again!" He turned on his heels, screaming as he fled back in to the kitchen, the double doors swinging on their hinges wildly as the frightened Italian crashed through them.

A brief stunned silence set on the table.

"Way to go, Kiku!" Alfred broke into a grin. "You freaked him out into leaving!" He attempted to pat Kiku on the back encouragingly, only to smile sheepishly when his hand passed right through the Japanese ghost.

"I-I didn't mean-!"

"But it's a kind of weird" Alfred interrupted thoughtfully, using his hand to keep his head up. "I was pretty sure he couldn't see Kiku, but then it looked like he heard him pretty clearly…."

Arthur had been reading through the menu again, wondering if they should bother staying and order desserts (that lasagne had been surprisingly tasty) before dragging his eyes up to look at the other two. "It's not that strange, really. He's probably just clairaudient"

Alfred and Kiku shared the same blank expression. "Dude, stop using words I can't understand…"

"True hearing" Arthur sighed deeply, as if he had explained this a million times before. "He can hear things that other people can't. Like how we can see things other people usually can't, like Kiku" He gestured to the Japanese ghost, who was nodding interestedly at Arthur's explanation.

"So, what? He can't see ghosts, but he can hear them?" Alfred shifting his gaze to where the Italian had retreated. "That sounds pointless..."

"Not really. People with that kind of power can also hear ghosts that we wouldn't usually be able to talk to. Almost like they can hear what they're thinking, or at least what they want. I've heard that some can actually hear ghosts that have already passed on and get information they need from them" Arthur gave a little shrug. "But that last one's probably just a rumour. You can't talk to ghosts who are no longer in this world" His almost eyes seemed to harden slightly with the last sentence. It was more like he was trying to convince himself than the other two. "You just can't"

"Um...Okaaay" Alfred leaned away from the Brit, more than a little freaked out. "Whatever you say..."

Not much was said after that. Alfred offered Kiku the slice of pizza like he had intended, the Japanese ghost accepting it gratefully. Arthur used his fork to poke the remains of his lasagne, suddenly in a bad mood for some unknown reason.

Kiku couldn't help but feel a little worried about Arthur. It was normal for the British man to grow irritable over simple things, but it honestly looked like there had been nothing to provoke him at all. Maybe he had bad experiences with trying to talk to ghosts on the 'other side'? That would explain a little, although it only made Kiku even more curious.

It also reminded him that he knew very little about his two friends. They could both see ghosts, and enjoyed arguing with each other. That was about it. There was also the reason that they could see ghosts that bothered Kiku. Arthur had explained to him once that the ability to see spirits was usually either genetic, or could be caused by a near death experience. When he had asked, both Alfred and Arthur said that they had never heard of anyone in their families with the same ability, so it often made Kiku wonder. What could have happened in their pasts to allow them to see ghosts?

But of course, Kiku would never ask. It would be rude! If they had truly ever come close to death at some point in their lives, then they'd surely want to avoid the subject as much as possible. It was up to them if they ever wanted to tell him.

Kiku was wrapped in his own thoughts; he almost didn't feel the chill running down his spine. Almost. He held himself, frowning. It was just like that sensation when he went outside….He felt cold. That was the only way to describe it. He scanned the room, trying to find the source of his sudden unease. But there was nothing. Only Arthur, Alfred and himself were in the room.

He didn't notice the dark figure slip through the double doors that lead to the kitchen. None of them did. After that, it was impossible for them to see the stranger slowly ascend a set of stair, climbing to the second floor of the restaurant. No one saw them travel down the hall, stopping outside one door in particular.

No one knew what had happened in that room, not until a certain grumpy Italian opened the door, revealing the scene inside.

But when Arthur, Alfred and Kiku decided it was time for them to pack away and ask for the bill, they did hear the high pitched scream that echoed through the virtually empty restaurant, a scream that had been delayed for a few seconds as Lovino had attempted to comprehend the scene before him.

Even he didn't see the dark figure practically vanish from sight, a proud smirk on its lips as it wiped away a few red stains on its person.

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..._.Cliff-hanger :) Sorry, but I really wanted to update….Please review and tell me what you think ^_^_


	8. Chapter 8

Julius Vargas was cheerful, carefree Italian man, and the loving and rather young grandfather of Feliciano Vargas and Lovino Vargas. Both adored their grandfather. When they decided they wanted to study in America, Julius said that they could stay with him as long as they helped him with his dream of owning an Italian restaurant. (Of course, this dream was most likely linked to a mid-life crisis he was going through, but Feliciano thought that it'd be fun to help his grandfather and somehow managed to get Lovino to agree too)

Julius enjoyed making Italian food, talking to his grandchildren and flirting with girls. In the past, he had been a rather successful history teacher, his main field of research being the Roman Empire, but eventually quit so that he'd have more time for his restaurant. Even though, at best, it only had around two customers a week, he was still convinced that Buono Tomato would eventually become successful.

Throughout his life, he had been a happy man, his life revolving around his dear grandchildren, and more recently, his new restaurant. As long as he had those, his spirits would remain high. Even though he had fallen ill in the past week, Julius remained cheery, convinced that he would be back on his feet again in no time.

So it was a great shock to everyone, including Julius himself, when he was found in his bedroom that day, his eyes blank and unseeing. A knife was discovered in his lifeless hand, eerily close to his open throat. The pale cream bed sheets and the knife were dyed scarlet.

Lovino's reaction was delayed when he first opened the door, having to talk to his grandfather about his so called 'anger issues'. After a few minutes of staring at the room before him, his mind slowly putting together the too still body, the alarming amount of red, and the overwhelming, powerful scent of blood, he screamed.

After everyone in the restaurant rushed to the source of the scream, the scene in the quiet bedroom was revealed to everyone. Ludwig attempted shielding Feliciano's eyes, but it was too late. It was painfully obvious that Julius Vargas was dead.

The police were called, and there was a half-hearted attempt at calling the hospital, even though they knew there was no point. Trickles of blood were still slowly flowing from the large cut in his neck and still sickeningly warm, but there was no way to bring the Italian man back.

Arthur found himself dazed, staring at the tiled floor. The police had ordered everyone to stay in the main part of the restaurant while they investigated, took pictures of the crime scene, etc. No one was allowed to leave until they had been questioned.

He glanced at Alfred and Kiku. Alfred was pale, but didn't seem _too_ upset. At the very least, he didn't look like he was about to faint. Kiku, on the other hand, was pacing frantically, trying to stop himself from having some kind of breakdown. At times he would fade, reappearing at the other end of the restaurant seconds later, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Excuse me?" Arthur looked up; meeting the gaze of the one had spoken. A young man with forest green eyes was smiling at him gently. He was dressed in a normal police uniform, and his long chestnut hair was tied back. "I'm Officer Toris Laurinaitis. The other three are still a little upset, so is it okay if I ask you a few questions?"

A 'little upset' was an obvious understatement. Feliciano was wailing uncontrollably, tightly clutching the front of Ludwig's shirt, soaking the fabric with his tears. The only sign that Ludwig was actually aware of this was the occasional comforting pat on the sobbing Italian's shoulders; the rest of the time he was staring into space with wide eyes, pale faced. Lovino was standing a little bit away from them, faced away from everyone else and hugging himself. It was clear from the way he would sometimes hitch his shoulders that he was crying.

"That's fine" Arthur said with a small nod.

"Yeah, I'm okay with that Officer La...Lau...Toris" Despite everything, Alfred smiled weakly after a few failed attempts at saying the Lithuanian's last name.

Arthur stomped on his foot, giving him an irritable glare. Honestly, where were that boy's manners? But Toris didn't seem to mind his first name being used, and brought out a small notebook and a pen. "Alright then, let's get started..."

The questions that were asked were mainly things like: 'Did you have any relationship with the victim?' (No) 'Did you notice anyone suspicious at all?' (Not really) and 'Did you happen to know the staff at all before this (We knew Ludwig and his brother Gilbert but that's it)

"So was the old guy murdered?" Alfred blurted suddenly, earning a glare from Arthur and a shocked gasp from Kiku.

Toris frowned. "We're usually not allowed to share details while we're still investigating, but..." He sighed. "We're not treating this like a homicide"

"Wha-? But..." Alfred blinked. "The guy's dead, isn't he?"

"Yes...But there were no signs of forced entry or any signs of struggle. Everyone has an alibi. The weapon hasn't been fully tested yet, but so far we can only find the victim's finger prints" Toris looked down to his feet, trying to think of the best way to continue. "...For now, we're considering this a suicide"

There was a stunned and somewhat awkward silence.

"...-wrong…" A quiet voice, barely a whisper. "Y-you're wrong!" It was Lovino. He had spun to face the others, poison green eyes glistening with unshed tears but narrowed menacingly. "Grandpa….Grandpa would never take his own life! Grandpa was _happy_! He wasn't depressed! Sure, he was a little ill, but the doctor just said it was a bad cold! There was no reason for him to…to...!" Lovino stopped in the middle of his outburst, the breath catching in his throat. He was trembling; burying his face in his hands as he slowly shook his head. He couldn't hide his tears anymore.

"I'm sorry" Toris apologised with sincerity. "I wish there was something I could-"

Lovino's head snapped up again, moist lines descended from his eyes, framing his face. "Don't even bother saying it!" he snapped. "You can't bring grandpa back! If you really want to do something to help, then catch whoever the hell did this to him! 'Cause if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that grandpa _didn't _kill himself!"

"...And, how do you know?" A new voice. This one was laced with a thick Russian accent, heavy with a smug and somehow cold tone. "Can you honestly say you knew _everything _about your grandfather? You never know, he could have been hiding things from you to stop you from worrying. Or, do you happen to be an experienced detective? If so, I'd be glad to hear your views" A man entered from the kitchen, clad in a thick brown duffle coat, a silk scarf constricted around his neck, even though they had only just reached autumn. He pushed his silvery blonde fringe out of his eyes, his bruise coloured eyes carefully regarding the Italian. "If not, please do everyone a favour and _shut up_" The last part had an extra hint of malice to it, but the Russian beamed innocently as if only pleasantries had passed between them. "Okay?"

Kiku drifted towards Alfred and Arthur, partially hiding behind the American, just in case. There was just something about the Russian man…

For a few seconds, Lovino was left speechless. "A-and who the hell are you?" he asked, not caring about the way his own voice shook.

"_Chief _Ivan Braginski" Emphasis was put on the word 'chief'. His smile did not reach his eyes. "That means I'm in charge of this investigation. Toris?"

Toris jumped, looking towards the taller man nervously. "Y-yes, sir?"

"As you've already said, there were no signs of forced entry or struggle, da?"

"T-that's right, sir"

"And is it true that no other finger prints have been found on the weapon so far?"

"Yes sir"

Braginski's smile grew. "See?" He directed his attention back to the others in the room. "What else could it be but suicide?"

Alfred scowled. There was something about the Russian police man, something about his unwavering smile. Seriously, what kind of police man _smiled _at a crime scene? He was acting like they were at a picnic! "It could have been murder!" Alfred found himself saying, not thinking about his words. "You never know, since no one say anything, it could have been a ghost that killed him!"

Arthur hushed him, glowering at the younger man. It wasn't that he disagreed with Alfred's idea; it was actually entirely possible. But he knew from experience that it was never a good idea to talk about ghosts openly to others. They always either laughed in your face or figured you were insane.

The Russian chuckled, his eyes lighting up in amusement. "You really think that's possible?" Alfred's glare answered his question, making him laugh even more. "Please. A _ghost_? Even if that was true, how am I supposed to arrest a ghost?" He turned to the other police man. "It's funny, right Toris?" Toris nodded hurriedly, adding a quiet nervous laugh for good measure.

"It could happen!" Alfred felt his face flush. He hated people laughing at him. He had suffered from that enough at his old schools. "Ghosts really do exist! And I've seen what they can do; a powerful one could easily kill someone!"

Braginski's smile faltered, his eyes darkening. His tone was harsher when he spoke next. "Listen, I personally _don't_ believe in ghosts. And even if what you say is true, then what am I supposed to do? And why would a _ghost _target this man?" His bruised eyes drifted from Arthur, to Alfred, before finally seeming to settle on Kiku. The Japanese ghost shivered under his gaze, deciding it would be a good idea to hide behind Alfred fully. "If ghosts do exist, then they're obviously just people who were too conceited to leave this world when it was their time" His eyes narrowed briefly before he turned, his coat sweeping across the smooth floor. He exited the room, leaving the others in an uncomfortable silence.

"Well," Arthur clapped his hands together. "He was certainly a ball of sunshine"

"You talking about that Ivan guy?" Gilbert entered the main room right at that moment. A set of bandages were wrapped around his head, making his silver hair messy and uneven in places. "That guy just barged past me in the kitchen" he explained with a slight huff. "He's always been such a weirdo..."

"You know him, Gilbert-san?"

"Yeah, but not very well" Gilbert shrugged. "This is a small town, so you tend to see everyone who lives here at least once. All I know about him is that he's Russian, he's the in charge of the police and he creeps everyone out"

"That's true" Toris said, a little sadly. "I _think _he means well, but I can never relax around him…"

Ludwig looked up suddenly. He wasn't as pale as before, it seemed like he was finally recovering from the shock. Feliciano was still hanging on to him, but had fallen silent, now grasping his shirt loosely. "Brother…?" he asked slowly, noticing his self-proclaimed 'awesome' older sibling. He glared. "Where the hell have you been?" he snapped angrily.

Gilbert jumped back, not expecting the younger German to yell at him so suddenly. "Hey, don't look at me like that! I was being questioned by some Estonian police guy! The only reason they haven't asked you anything yet is because you were all really out of it! Especially Feli" He frowned. "Hey, is Feli alright?"

"I…" Ludwig glanced down at the Italian. His face was still buried in the German's chest, so he couldn't see his expression. "Feliciano?" he asked gently.

Feliciano pushed himself away from Ludwig, frantically stepping back. It was immediately obvious that there was something wrong with the usually cheery Italian. For one thing, his eyes were _open, _revealing a pair of honey irises. The whites were a sore red from crying. But his now open eyes were not focused, as if he was staring at something the others couldn't see.

"_Not right…_" Feliciano muttered, his voice sounding oddly distorted. "_This isn't right. That's not what happened!"_

From his end of the room, Lovino groaned. "Oh, great!" he said sarcastically. "He's having one of 'those' moments"

Before anyone could ask what the older Italian meant, Feliciano started speaking again. His voice had changed again. "_That man's mistaken_" he said, depressed. "_He's blind to his own mistakes. That is what happens when you hold grudges~_" The sad tone was gone, and Feliciano started giggling hysterically.

Alfred was the first one to react. He stepped forward, firmly grabbing Feliciano's shoulders. "Dude, snap out of it! I know you're upset about your granddad and everything, but you're seriously creeping everyone out!"

Feliciano's eyes locked on Alfred. "_Oh…_" he cooed. "_You've certainly had a lot of sadness in your life, haven't you?_" He grinned, a wide, unsettling, toothy smile. "_It seems you're blind too~_ _Or at least, you're going to be..._"

Alfred raised an eyebrow, shaking Feliciano as carefully as possible. "Dude...What are you talking about?"

"_Fire…_" That one word made the American's world freeze, the whispered tone making him think back to a different time, a different place. Another room, filled with that one word. "_So much fire...Your blindness lies there. After all, someone is keeping something from you..."_

Everyone was too focused on Feliciano. They didn't notice the blood slowly drain from Arthur's face.

"_But you cannot act on grudges and blindness alone_" Feliciano added. "_If you do, then only more sadness will follow..._" He began giggling again.

"Feliciano?" Alfred shook him again. "What are you _talking _about?" There was no reply, only laughter. Laughter that echoed off the walls, making it seem like there was more than one of the Italian.

"That's it; I've had enough of this!" In one fluid movement, Arthur stepped forward, placing his hand on Feliciano's head.

The effect was almost immediate. The young Italian fell back, collapsing into Ludwig's arm, who had moved behind him at the last minute.

* * *

_Yeah, I felt bad about leaving you with such a cliff-hanger, so I updated earlier ^0^ Although, we've only answered about one question and raised hundreds more XD And in case you didn't notice, the characters who were in the Soviet Union are the ones in the police department XD Sorry if they seemed unrealistic, but my only general experience with police activity is with Phoenix Wright o_O And that only had attorneys and detectives as main characters XD Well...At least you all know who died now? XD Oh, and one last thing, later in this story, I'm thinking of including a Scotland OC...But I want to know how all of you feel about that, since I know lots of people don't like OCs... Should I include him, or shouldn't I? He wouldn't appear for a while yet, but still... Anyway, please review and tell me what you think ^_^_


	9. Chapter 9

_If you're wondering why I'm updating so soon, it's because this story _really_ wants to be written XD Seriously, this is probably one of the only stories I have were I have pretty much the entire plot mapped out entirely XD (For my others I usually only have the beginning and ending but the middle is a little hazy…)_

* * *

18 years ago.

"_Arthur? Come here, darling"_

_Arthur peered into the room, a little hesitantly. A woman was on her knees, crouched on the carpet, surrounded by different faced down tarot cards. Only one was faced up._

"_Mum…?" Arthur stared at her worriedly, not fully comfortable with entering the room. Allistor and his other siblings had warned him not to go near her on his own. Their mother was too unpredictable. He was only five years old; if she snapped again she could really hurt him._

_But even though her long ginger hair was unusually matted, as if she had been hurriedly running her fingers through it, her emerald eyes were kind and welcoming. It really was _his_ mother; not the fake, scary person she often turned into._

"_Come here" she said again, reaching out her arms, offering an inviting hug. _

_Arthur's bare feet padded across the carpeted floor as he crossed the room, closing the distance between him and his mother. He allowed himself to fall into her arms, which closed around him comfortingly, but he couldn't shake the unease that was building up inside of him. What if she started acting like _that _again? What if she started screaming and yelling and laughing and saying all of those mean things again and-…?_

_But…she was acting so _normal_..._

"_Arthur" his mother said softly, stroking his hair soothingly. "I need to teach you something. The cards have spoken; I'm not always going to be here for you. Neither are your darling brothers and sister"_

_Arthur frowned, clutching onto her dress. He glanced down, looking at the only faced up card, the one directly in front of them. The Tower. What did that mean? Maybe he could ask Allistor later…His brother had mentioned that their mother had taught him what all the cards meant…_

_His mother gently moved him, twisting him so that Arthur was faced away, but still sitting on her lap. "Pay attention, darling" She clasped his hands, bringing them together. "If I can't protect you, I'm going to have to teach you how to stop them yourself"_

"_What do you mean?" Arthur tried to look up, but his mother quickly forced his head down, repositioning her hands around his own. _

_She ignored the question. "Tell me, Arthur, can you see it?"_

_Arthur peered closer. What was she trying to show him…? Oh._

"_A person?" Arthur blinked in surprise. An older man was sitting in front of them. His face was wrinkled with age, a depressed frown etched on his face. But he was sure there had been no one there a second ago…_

"_He's dead" his mother said. "Normally you wouldn't be able to see him, most people can't. Usually, people who can see the dead were either born with the gift or had a close experience with death themselves. Neither you nor your siblings have this power, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be able to protect yourself from the dangerous ones. Now, reach out you hand"_

_Arthur complied, stretching his arm out towards the spirit. He tensed when the man reached his own hand out, wrapping his fingers around the British child's small palm. Oddly, except for a sudden chill, he couldn't feel the man's touch._

"_Good. Now, I want you to focus on the ghost, but make sure you keep your mind blank"_

_Arthur nodded, but couldn't help but feel a little unsure. What was supposed to happen?_

"_Now, your hand should start to feel a little warm…"_

"_I-it does" Arthur said, eyes widening. There was definitely a building sense of heat in his hand, beginning to stretch down into his arm. "It really does, it-!"_

_And then the ghost was gone._

* * *

"Wow" Gilbert's ruby eyes watched Alfred thoughtfully. "So you really just sit down and play video games while Arthur does, um, whatever the hell he does? And I thought he was kidding…"

Alfred looked up from his DS, not really bothered by the albino's comment. "Yeah…Well, ghosts freak me out, so I'd rather avoid them as much as possible. The only reason Arthur even takes me on these things is because he doesn't trust me on my own"

"But…what about Kiku?"

"What about him?"

"He's dead, isn't he?"

"Well, _yeah_, but he's different…"

"How?"

"Because he's…You know, he's…" There was a pause. "…Shut up"

Gilbert smirked, falling on to the bench next to Alfred. He casually glanced over at Arthur, who was calmly talking to a rather distraught looking woman. The only tell-tale sign that she was dead was the fact that she looked a little see-through to the German. "So why would there be a ghost in a train station, anyway?" he asked thoughtfully, glancing around the virtually deserted platform.

Alfred gave him a look. "Think about it. How would someone die in a train station?"

"…Ah"

"Exactly"

A heavy silence descended on them, which was only interrupted by the occasional beeps coming from Alfred's game. They could faintly hear Arthur talking to the ghost, asking her questions about her death.

"So…Um…" Gilbert started uncertainly. "Why do you live with Arthur, anyway?"

Alfred seemed surprised by this question. "What?"

"It's just, you're still nineteen…I can understand if you just wanted to leave, but wouldn't it be a good idea to stay with your parents a little bit longer?"

Alfred's expression darkened. He gripped his game console so tightly his knuckles were turning white. "…My parents died in a fire five years ago…"

Awkward silence. This time it felt a lot more depressing.

"I've been meaning to ask," Alfred's words sliced through the stillness. He obviously wanted to put the previous conversation behind him, "why _are _you here? I'm not complaining or anything, but…"

Gilbert grinned. "Oh, didn't I say? Arthur gave me a job. I'm now an awesome assistant!"

"Whoa, seriously?" Alfred smiled too at first, but confusion quickly flashed across his face. "How'd you get Artie to agree to that?"

"Oh, he was the one who asked me!" Gilbert said jauntily, crossing his arms and wearing the smuggest expression he could manage. "He called me over early this morning and _begged _me to work for him. He said he _needed _my awesome help! He practically threw himself on his knees, saying that his job couldn't go on without me!"

"Well…That explains why you were at our house this morning" Alfred said. "But that _really _doesn't sound like Arthur…"

"Yeah…But, you know…"

_A few hours earlier…_

"Come on, Arthur!" Gilbert tilted his head down and stuck out his bottom lip in what he figured was the most awesome puppy dog look in the history of awesome puppy dog looks.

But after four years of living with a certain American, Arthur had developed a sort of immunity to that look. He deadpanned, clutching his dressing gown tighter. "No," he said.

Arthur was understandably annoyed. He had been woken up ridiculously early by Kiku, who had informed him that someone was attacking the front door. Arthur had to drag himself from his suddenly extremely comfortable bed, and opened the door to find the 'awesome' German on his door step. Barely a second after the door had opened; Gilbert was demanding a job.

"But _whhhhhy?"_

The 'w_hy' _sounded chalk being scrapped across a board, making Arthur wince. But Alfred had also used that tone with him before, and Arthur held his ground. "Because I've only known you for a few days, and I already know you're loud, irresponsible, and I honestly don't see how you'd be able to help me with my job"

"Well…Isn't it normal for young people to be a _little _irresponsible?"

"You're older than me!"

"Seriously?" Gilbert's face was the picture of disbelief. "I thought you were like forty or something!"

Arthur glowered at the man in front, making him recoil slightly.

"Okay, look" Gilbert descended down, first on one knee, and then the other. "Look what you've reduced me to. This _awesomeness_ is literally begging on his knees. Please, just give me a job! You gave Alfred one!"

"I d_idn't _give Alfred a job. He just lives with me. I don't pay him at all. And if he does ever have the nerve to ask for money, I'd have to reconsider giving him free food and a place to live. When I do take him with me when I'm working, all he does is sit in the corner and play video games" Arthur sighed. "Give me one good reason why I should give you a job"

"'Cause I'm _awesome!_" Gilbert said grinned wildly. No response. "Okay, okay! I guess there really isn't a reason. But Luddy said that he'll kick me out if I don't get a job that doesn't fire me after a week! I can't go back to our parents, 'cause they live in Germany and they told me to get lost the day I turned twenty. I'd be forced on to the streets, all because _you _didn't give me a job! It'd be _your _fault! Can you live with that? _Can you?_"

"Yes" Arthur said. His expression softened. "Look, Ludwig's your brother. I doubt he'd _really _kick you out, and- Wait, 'Luddy'? Wasn't he 'Lutz' the other day?"

"Yeah, but that grew old fast…"

Arthur regarded the still kneeling German. He was foolish, rash, lazy, and extremely arrogant. Just like Alfred. Well, Gilbert was definitely more conceited, but…"Fine!" Arthur groaned. "I'll let you help out!"

Gilbert was getting ready to beg again, and maybe even shed a few awesomely fake tears, but stopped, trying to comprehend what Arthur had just said.

"Did…Did you just say…?" Gilbert gasped in disbelief. He jumped to his feet, punching the air. "_Hell yeah!_" he yelled. "I _knew _it! No one can say no to the awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt! You won't regret this!"

"I already do" Arthur ran a hand through his hair. Why was he surrounded by so many loud people…?

"Oh, and by the way," Gilbert calmed down suddenly, blinking at Arthur slowly. "What is your job, exactly?"

* * *

Kiku sighed as he walked down the outside path. The trees were blocking the sunlight, making the small park comfortably cool. Not that Kiku could feel the cold or heat anymore. But at least he could appreciate the tranquillity. He had decided to go for a walk, as he would often do when he was still alive, after Arthur, Alfred and Gilbert had left, since that large house felt rather lonely when it lacked the usual chatter of the living.

But even the calm and virtually empty park couldn't keep Kiku's mind off what had happened the other day. The 'suicide', the intimidating Russian man…

'_If ghosts do exist, then they're obviously just people who were too conceited to leave this world when it was their time…'_

He sighed sadly. Was he really conceited? Kiku had always figured he had done his best to be polite, and tried his best to stay away from arguments. It was true that his own death had surprised him, that he hadn't felt ready to die, but did that really make him selfish…?

And then there was that other thing…

_Feliciano had fallen into Ludwig's arms, unconscious. Arthur groaned loudly, stumbling backwards as he clutched his head._

"_Hey!" Lovino's poison green eyes narrowed angrily after looking alarmed for a few seconds. "What did you do to mi fratello?" _

_Arthur didn't answer, merely groaning again. He sat down on a nearby chair, crossing his arms on the table and using them to cushion his head._

"_What was that about?" Alfred asked, not bothering to hide his confusion. _

_Lovino glanced from the fallen Italian to the moaning Brit. He sighed. "This happens sometimes" he explained with a little huff. "This is probably going to sound really stupid, but when Feli opens his eyes, he tends to know things. Things he _shouldn't _know. Like where I hid the macho potato's car keys that one time"_

_Ludwig's head snapped up suddenly. He had been trying to gently lay Feliciano on the floor. "That was you?"_

_Lovino ignored him. "Anyway, for some reason this makes mi fratello a bit of a ghost magnet. Spirits just start trying to possess him and make him say really weird things. They never really make sense, so don't worry about what he just said. I mean, the last time this happened, one of the ghosts said that I have anger issues…." He kicked a chair suddenly, forcing it onto its side. "I mean, does it ****ing _look_ like I have anger issues?"_

"_Wait..." Alfred frowned. "So Feliciano was possessed?"_

"_What the hell did I just waste my time explaining to you?"_

"_I know, I know! But this actually explains what Arthur did!" Alfred gestured to the Brit, who was still hunched over the table. "You see, Arthur can get rid of ghosts"_

"…_What?"_

"_I don't really understand it either; I think he exorcizes them or something…He just touches them, concentrates, and then they're gone. He must have got rid of the ghost possessing Feliciano!"_

_Kiku frowned. "Arthur-san can do something like that?" _

"_Yeah, he said it was a family thing or something…"_

Kiku looked around sadly as he came out of his thoughts. There was so much he didn't know about Arthur and Alfred...It was probably really rude to ask, but did they trust him at all? Sure, they had only been living together for a little more than a month, but he couldn't help but feel he was more on the side-lines in their daily lives…

He drifted forward, sitting down, a little more heavily than necessary, on a nearby bench. He almost didn't notice the person sitting right next to him.

He was dressed rather formally, his blue eyes staring at nothing as delicate tears dribbled down his face. He had shoulder length blonde hair, which, for some reason, was unaffected by the light breeze and stayed firmly in place.

_He's dead,_ Kiku realised. He found himself staring at the other ghost thoughtfully. Kiku had only ever talked to a few other spirits, so he couldn't help but feel slightly nervous…

"Um…Excuse me? Are you alright?" Kiku asked politely. There was no harm in being friendly.

The other man stiffened before twisting round to face the Japanese ghost. A look of disbelief, and possibly hope was growing on his face. "Were….Were you talking to me?" he asked. Kiku noted that his words were laced with a French accent. Kiku nodded. "You can see me?"

Ah, Kiku remembered asking the same questions to other ghosts when he had first died…"Yes," he said with a calm smile. "I'm dead too"

Kiku wasn't expecting the Frenchman to jump forward and attempt to hug the Japanese ghost. And, to his utter surprise, the French spirit didn't just go through Kiku's body, like when Alfred had tried to do the same thing. Well…Maybe it was because they were both ghosts…

"I-I can't believe this!" the other ghost cried happily, still hugging Kiku. "I've been dead for weeks, and I haven't been able to talk to anyone ever since! It's like that time everyone started ignoring me, because I _hate _being ignored, but this is much worse because I know they can't hear me, no matter what! So I've just been wandering around, trying to find _someone _who could hear me, and…" he looked around, releasing Kiku, suddenly taking in their surroundings. "…Where are we? I must off wandered further from home then I thought…"

Kiku quickly told him the name of the town, still a little thrown off by the sudden hug. "My name is Kiku Honda" he said, after it looked like the Frenchman knew where he was.

"Francis Bonnefoy" Francis smiled, obviously a lot happier than before. Kiku frowned, the name tickling at the back of his memory, but he decided to ignore it. "I must say, this is the first time I've talked to a ghost before…"

"I don't usually talk to other ghosts myself" Kiku said light heartedly. "I usually only talk to these two friends of mine..." _At least, _I _think of them as my friends…_"They're both alive"

It was Francis's turn to frown. "They're alive? And they can see you?"

"Yes, apparently there are lots of people who can see ghosts" Kiku nodded to his own statement. "And other strange things too. The other day I met an Italian who couldn't see me, but could hear me"

"How strange..."

Kiku smiled, but suddenly looked up, towards the direction of the sun. "Huh…it's getting late…" He mused. "They'll probably be back soon…I really should go home…"

"Wha- You're leaving?" Francis's eyes widened. "But, wait…I…"

Kiku glanced at him sympathetically. He knew what Francis was going through. Dying wasn't fun. If you have no one to talk to you eventually start thinking the continuous loneliness is normal, forgetting what it was like to ever have friends at all…

"Um…You could come to my house for a little bit for some tea" Kiku said without thinking. "I don't think they'd mind if you stayed for a little bit…Well, Alfred-san might, he's a little scared of ghosts, but it should still be fine…I mean, you're new to being…well, dead, so…"

Francis blinked slowly, as if having trouble believing his good fortune. "R…Really?"

"Yes" Kiku said, trying to his unsure tone. There was nothing wrong with helping another ghost…Although, he couldn't shake the feeling he had heard the name 'Francis' before. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind again, standing up. "Let's go; I'll show you where I live"

* * *

_Chapter end XD Oh, you can just tell things are going to be awkward...XD Please review and tell me what you think ^_^_


	10. Chapter 10

_The fire was everywhere, licking the walls and melting everything it touched. Alfred's eyes streamed with unwanted tears, the smoke filling his mouth, his lungs…._

_He desperately tried to get up from his sprawled out position on the tiled floor, but the smoke choked him into a coughing fit, his hands slick with some kind of liquid -blood?- forcing him back down again._

_Alfred tried to cover his mouth as he began coughing again, hoping it would stop the continuous smoke from invading his insides further. It felt like he was burning inside too, along with the room surrounding him. He groaned, more out of frustration than pain, allowing his arms to collapse from underneath him after another futile attempt at standing. What was the point in fighting back? He was going to die, alone in this fiery coffin._

_Where was Matthew? Where were his parents? Had they escaped? Or were they huddled in some unknown corner, wondering if they should wait for rescue or death?_

_The black smoke practically blinded Alfred, but even so he still strained his eyes as he noticed something. A silhouette, a person, faced away from him, as if they were staring at the wall of fire. Alfred tried to call out to them, to beg for help, maybe, but only ended up coughing up another lungful of smoke._

_The person turned. They seemed unfazed by the alarming amount of fire. Alfred tried choking out another cry, but stopped. Even through Alfred's clouded vision, he could see the cold smirk forming on the other's lips._

_They spread out their arms, gesturing to the world of red and orange and yellow around them. "You deserve this," they said. Their eyes, eyes that were forever scared into Alfred's memory, were burning with a dark mirth. "You deserve this."_

"Alfred!" The American was being shaken awake by his shoulders. His heavy eyelids opened fluttered open hurriedly, desperately scanning the area.

No fire.

Alfred allowed himself to relax, forcing the nightmare out of his mind with the memories of what had happened moments before. They had gone back to Arthur's car after deciding there wasn't much else they could do with the ghost at the train station. Gilbert had quickly claimed the seat next to Arthur, forcing Alfred into the back.

"You know," he could remember Gilbert saying to Arthur, "you look _really _familiar. I know it's a little late to say, but when Luddy and I went to your house, I remember thinking: 'Holy awesomeness! I know this guy!' So….Have we ever met before? Like, before this whole ghost thing?"

Alfred hadn't really been bothered with the conversation, and could faintly recall Arthur saying no, he didn't think so. The hum of the engine and the suddenly extremely soft seats must have lulled him to sleep after that.

But….Why had he had _that _dream? He thought he had stopped having it years ago. There was once a time where he would see that scene whenever he closed his eyes, and would wake up screaming night after night, convinced he was burning all over again.

"Alfred?" It was Arthur. He was gazing at Alfred worriedly. He must have been the one who had woken Alfred. "Are you alright?" He lowered his voice, even though they were the only ones in the car. "Was….Was it that nightmare again?"

"N-no!" Alfred said hurriedly. "What makes you think that? Y-you know I don't have that anymore!" Alfred brought an uncertain hand to his cheek. A few solitary tears had fallen in his sleep.

"Really?" Arthur asked, obviously not convinced. "You know, it doesn't matter if you were having that dream. It was a traumatic experience. I'd be more worried if you weren't affected at all by that fire."

Alfred huffed, looking away. Of course it mattered...If he started having that nightmare frequently like before; he might have to start going to therapy again. He found that the most boring and pointless hours of his life had been spent with a therapist, trying to get him to 'open up' and talk about that day…But Alfred didn't want to talk about it, especially not with some condescending stranger. He wanted to put it behind him, even if something was drawing his thought back to that day…

"What _does _worry me is that you just seem to bottle it up. You barely ever speak about that day. About what you saw. Wouldn't talking about it to _someone _be easier than pretending it never happened?"

"No," was Alfred's blunt answer. Talking about that day was what caused the nightmares. If he locked the memories away in some dark area of his mind, never touching them, then they couldn't hurt him. It must have been because of earlier, when he had quietly told Gilbert about his parents. Just barely scratching the dust off those neglected memories seemed to enough to awaken those nightmares again.

And then there was the fact that there was just no point in telling anyone about it. What would they be able to do? It wouldn't bring his parents back, or the past five years of his life.

And when he _had _actually talked about it, no one had believed him about the other person. The one who had smirked at him, and told him '_you deserve this…_'

That person must have been the one who had started the fire. It was the only other person there. But when he had mentioned them after waking up in the hospital, everyone had just said he had probably imagined them, a vague hallucination after taking in too much smoke. The fire was supposed to of started in the same room Alfred had been occupying, and a few had said outright that he probably lit the fire himself. They thought of him as a trouble maker, who had just been messing around with a lighter and lost control of the fire, accidently killing his own parents.

Although it was true that Alfred couldn't remember anything from that day before the memory of being trapped in his burning house, Alfred knew that it couldn't have been him. He might have been a bit of a problem after the fire, but before that Alfred had been hard working, and would never do anything that didn't line up with his views of justice. But no one could understand that, they all thought he had made up the mysterious over person.

And Alfred was sure that the other had been real. There was no way something he had imagined would have left such an impression on his mind. And those eyes, those burning eyes that seemed to be filled with anger as well as a mocking laugher…he knew them. He recognised the person. But from where?

He ignored the tickle in the back of his mind, the voice telling him to dig deeper into his memories, to find out who the other was. He knew the eyes, but failed to think of a name. Maybe if he actually allowed himself to think back to that day, and not just through lucid nightmares, he could find out who the other was? But then...would that solve anything?

Alfred jumped out of the car, dodging past Arthur. He stretched, tensed and a bit uncomfortable after falling asleep in the car. Gilbert was standing a little bit away from them, checking a few messages on his phone. He glanced at them when Arthur went to Alfred' side, wanting to tell him that their conversation wasn't over.

"What's taking the two of you so long?" Gilbert asked, stuffing his phone in his pocket. "Does it really take so long to wake Alfred up?"

"Not usually." Arthur sent a pointed glance to Alfred, silently telling him that they would talk about his dream later. Alfred glared back, trying to say 'no we won't'.

* * *

_Not a very long chapter, but I wanted to update….So, we know a bit more about Alfred's past :) Things will go into more detail sooner or later, although the next thing to do with Alfred's past is how he met Arthur XD I'll also have to go through Arthur's past too at some point ^0^ Oh, and one day we'll learn who the mysterious person in Alfred's memory is...In all honesty, I don't think anyone's going to get it before I actually say who it is XD Well, Please review and tell me what you think ^_^_


	11. Chapter 11

"What did you say?"

Kiku looked up, glancing behind him at the Frenchman sitting at the kitchen table. He was staring at him bewilderedly. Kiku couldn't understand why, though. He had been talking a little bit about his life (?) at the large house while trying to figure out how to make the tea. Thinking back, it was actually usually Arthur who would make it, and even then, Kiku could only drink small amounts at a time. Maybe making tea wasn't the best idea…

"Um, I said that Arthur-san and Alfred-san should be back soon," Kiku repeated cautiously. Had he said something wrong?

Abandoning the tea, Kiku sat opposite from Francis. The Frenchman was still staring at him, something processing inside his mind. "Arthur and Alfred…E-excuse me, but, this Arthur person…He wouldn't happen to be Arthur _Kirkland_, would he?"

Kiku blinked. "Actually, yes. That is Arthur-san's name. Are you acquainted with him?"

"I…"

The front door opened, slicing through the silence in the previously quiet hallway. A few thudding footsteps, and a yell of, "yo, Kiku! We're back!" Alfred appeared in the already open doorway, grinning slightly. "You wanna play video-," he paused, noticing the Frenchman at the table, "…-games?"

Kiku stood, smiling politely and ignoring the strange looks the two blondes were giving each other. "Ah, Alfred-san. This is Francis Bonnefoy. He is a ghost, like me…" Alfred had paled slightly. He stepped back. "B-but he's not a bad ghost! He's actually really friendly," Kiku finished weakly.

Alfred stared. "G…Gh…" He was trembling.

Before Kiku could try and stop Alfred from screaming and jumping out of a window, another voice asked, "Alfred, what are you doing?" Arthur moved next to Alfred, frowning at him before turning his attention to the occupants of the kitchen. And he stared.

"F…_Francis?"_

Francis stood. "_Arthur?"_

"Arthur-san?"

"…Francis?"

"Alfred-san, Arthur-sa-,"

"Kiku?"

"Kiku!"

"Arthur!"

"Francis."

"Arthur-san, Francis-san…"

"_The awesome Gilbert!"_

Three pairs of eyes turned, giving Gilbert a withering look. The albino deflated slightly, his arms slipping down from their akimbo position. "…What?"

Arthur sighed, turning back to the Frenchman. Alfred had decided to hide behind Arthur. "Francis…"

Francis regarded him carefully. "So it _is _you." He gave a half-hearted smile. "It's been a while."

"It…It has." Arthur didn't really know what to say, so instead he folded his arms, staring at Francis in disbelief. It had been months, maybe even a whole _year _since they had last spoken. Even if Francis had been alive, things would have still been awkward.

"Wait a minute!" Gilbert stood in-between them. "As much as I'd love to watch this nauseatingly uncomfortable reunion..." He turned to the stunned Frenchman. "Are you Francis? As in, Francis Bonnefoy? The pervert French guy?"

"Oui, I'm…" Francis's confused expression melted into a bright smile. "Oh, Gilbert? I didn't realise it was you!"

Kiku glanced from Gilbert, to Francis, then to Gilbert again. "You…You two know each other?"

"Hell yeah we do!" Gilbert was grinning. "I've known this guy since I was, like, what, 15? 16? We've been emailing each other, but I haven't really heard from him in a while…" He frowned. "I guess being dead kind of limits your computer access, huh?"

Francis nodded, his smile slipping. "I can barely do anything anymore. For the past few weeks I've…I've just been _there. _All I could do is watch the world move on without me. It was rather depressing…Arthur," he said to the momentarily forgotten Brit. "I…I'm sorry for calling you and Lukas crazy when you said you could see ghosts."

Arthur grimaced. "That's putting it lightly. You laughed right in my face."

"I-I know, but-!"

"Wait, wait…!" Gilbert interrupted. He was staring at Arthur in amazement. "You're _that _Arthur? Seriously?"

"Yes," Arthur said, raising an eyebrow. "I believe my name is, in fact, Arthur. Have I ever told you otherwise?"

"No, I mean- Hell, you don't remember me? Really? T-that one summer, where you, me and Mathias all got arrested? You really don't remember that?"

Alfred seemed to have forgotten his fear of the ghostly Frenchman, and was giving Arthur a confused look. "Dude…You were arrested?"

Arthur's eyes had widened in realisation before narrowing dangerously. "Alright, Gilbert, you've made your point. You don't need to mention things that others don't need to know about."

"…Arthur-san," Kiku began carefully. "You don't seem like the type of person who gets...arrested. Is it true?"

"No," Arthur replied curtly, stopping either Gilbert or Francis from answering. "He doesn't know what he's talking about. It…" Arthur looked away. "It _might _be true that I have met Gilbert sometime before, but that would have been a _long_ time ago."

"Dude." Alfred shared the same puzzled look as just about everyone in the room. "What's up with you?"

* * *

…_I am so sorry DX This was just terrible :( I had the chapter after planned out and everything, but this one…I forced myself to fight through the little block, 'cause I was looking forward to the chapter after…But it turned out like this T-T But there is light at the end of this tunnel! I have something planned…The chapter after the next one is covering the story on how Arthur and Alfred met! *0* Looks like chapter 13 is going to be rather lucky X3 I've been looking forward to writing that one for a while now, so YAY XD Although, it might be a little bit angsty…But hopefully not in a completely depressing way ^^' Anyway, please review and tell me what you think ^_^ (even if you don't think much of this chapter…)_


	12. Chapter 12

"Well, I think that was everything…" Alfred clutched the two bulging plastic bags, finding it hard not to drop them and spill their contents all over the pathway leading through the park. "You know," he glanced behind him, and Kiku looked up expectantly, "I think I prefer it when Arthur just yells. When he's feeling pissy but he doesn't want to let anyone know, he ends up venting it in weird ways."

"Really?" Kiku blinked at Alfred curiously, trailing after him at his usual hesitant pace. "How so?"

Alfred tried gesturing to the bags, but all he could manage was some kind of weird shrug. "He makes _really _long shopping lists. And then he does yell at you if it turns out you forgot something." He wasn't sure how he had managed it, but his phone was wedged between his ear and his shoulder. This meant that to any casual onlooker it would seem like Alfred was talking to someone on his mobile, and not the Japanese ghost behind him. "And he always makes you buy the weirdest things… Seriously, _cat food_? What do we need cat food for? We don't even own a cat!"

Kiku only smiled. It was true that Arthur had seemed more irritable over the past few days, but he decided that this was mainly due to the presence of Francis. There had been a lot of arguing between them, most of it probably started by Francis intentionally, and Kiku could already tell that this was a pretty normal occurrence between them.

So he couldn't help but feel surprised that Arthur had told Francis he could stay at their house. Judging by his attitude towards him and their supposed bad history, this seemed like the exact opposite action Arthur would have taken.

He eventually questioned Alfred about it. "According to him, they've always argued loads," he had told Kiku. "But Arthur's weird with ghosts. He always feels kind of… sympathetic about their condition." Alfred shrugged. "And maybe they consider themselves friends in a way? I don't really know. Arthur's never really talked about his childhood or whatever much."

Alfred had seemed tense when explaining this. The fact that there was now a new ghost for him to get used to had put him on edge. Well, at least his reaction to the French ghost was a little better than when he had first met Kiku… (Let's just say that it involved a broken TV and an attempt at jumping out of a window.)

That was something else Kiku didn't understand; Alfred's irrational fear of ghosts. He had obviously had the ability to see and talk to them for a few years, so why was his immediate reaction almost always to scream and run away? And then there was Arthur... How had Alfred come to live with a man whose main job would surround him with ghosts? In fact, how had they met in the first place? Kiku might not have known them for long, but… he didn't like being kept in the dark. His curiosity was getting the better of him. No matter how rude it was, he knew he had to ask the questions constantly circling inside his mind sooner or later.

"Um, Alfred-san?" Kiku's tone was uncertain.

Alfred made a small 'hmm?' sound.

"I…I was wondering if, um… It's just, I would like to know…I mean, if it's okay with you… I was only…"

Alfred stopped and turned around. "Kiku? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing…Well, I suppose it _is_ something…I was wondering if…if you could-! Bike.

"…You were wondering if I could _bike?_"

"N-no, Alfred-san, there's a-!"

Kiku's warning was too late. A bike and its distracted driver sped forward and accidently crashed into the American. Alfred yelped, as did the mystery biker, and he tumbled to the ground, dropping everything he had been carrying. Kiku jumped back, more out of alarm than his own safety. Even if the random assortment of shopping had flown his way, he doubted that it would have hurt him.

People stopped and stared at the two sprawled out men and the fallen bike like one would do with a car crash. But no one helped them, and eventually everyone grew bored and continued on with whatever they had been doing.

"Ugh…" Alfred groaned loudly. "That hurt so damn much…"

The other man was in a better condition than Alfred and rose to his knees. "O-oh, I…I-I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

Alfred tried sitting up, but his bruised body complained and he flopped back down onto the ground. He blinked up, noticing the pair of familiar, forest green eyes the other man had.

"Hey… You're that guy… That police officer at the restaurant!" Alfred's tone brightened when he finally remembered where he had seen the mystery man before. "Um…Toris, right?"

"Yes, that's right." Toris stared down at him in concern. His hair was not tied back like it had been with their first encounter, and now hung limply at the sides of his face. "So…You were one of the witnesses? It's nice to see you again but…Oh, I am _so _sorry."

"It's fine!" Alfred finally managed to sit up. "I'm still alive, and I don't _think _anything's broken… Uh, this, though…" He held up one of the shopping bags. It was broken and split in the middle. "I don't think I can use this again. Thank you." The last part was actually absentmindedly directed at Kiku, who had begun slowly moving some of the fallen pieces of shopping towards Alfred. But Toris flinched.

"I-I really am sorry. I should have been paying attention, but I had a lot on my mind, and-! H-here, I'll help you." Toris also started picking up the random items, even if he didn't realise he was being assisted.

"Dude, I said it was fine!" Alfred noticed his phone not too far from him, and he grabbed it. Good, it wasn't broken.

People were beginning to get annoyed and scowled at them as they passed. Well, they _were _sitting in the middle of the pathway. Toris seemed to notice this and helped Alfred to his feet with his spare arm.

Alfred frowned. "I don't think I'll be able to carry all this back, though," he said when Toris handed him a few of the items.

"I'm sorry," Toris said again. "Um…L-listen, my flat is nearby… Maybe I can give you a spare bag, and hopefully replace some of the things that were broken…" He gestured to a few smashed jars and bottles.

"Oh, um…" Alfred glanced back at Kiku. The only answer the Japanese ghost gave him was a small shrug. "…Sure, why not?"

* * *

To put it simply, Arthur was annoyed. He knew letting that frog stay was a bad idea… Honestly, what had he been thinking?

Francis was sitting at the other end of the room, emitting a false innocence that told Arthur he must have done _something_. Over the past few days, that 'something' had often been to hide things that belonged to Arthur.

Truthfully, he had felt a little bad for the French ghost at first, but any depression Francis seemed to have felt evaporated very quickly. Did he really find the idea of annoying Arthur more important than the fact he was dead?

He knew he was going to have to ask sooner or later, even if he already had an idea of what the answer was. Crossing his arms and scowling at the ghost, Arthur sighed heavily.

"Okay, what have you done now?"

Francis smiled. "Nothing," he said with obviously feigned innocence.

Arthur's scowl darkened. He could no longer find his wallet, and Francis, even without his behaviour, was the main suspect. He would have usually blamed something like this on Alfred, but now…

He stormed out of the room. It wasn't like he needed Francis to tell him; he had a more reliable source of information.

He reached the phone and dialled the necessary number. After a few seconds of impatient waiting, the other end answered.

"Arthur," Lukas said in his normal emotionless tone. "Let me guess; Francis hid one of your things. Again."

"Yes…" Arthur felt a little guilty. It was the fifth time this week he had called Lukas because of the French ghost's sense of humour. "Sorry, Lukas."

"It's fine. …Hey, do you think maybe he's getting you back for that prank we pulled on him?"

"You mean that poltergeist prank?" Arthur blinked. "Lukas, he doesn't even know that was a joke. He still thinks what Vlad told him is true."

"Oh…Well, try looking behind the sink." And then he ended the call. Arthur stared at the phone dubiously.

It still ended up being hard to find, but that was mainly due to the sheer amount of room in the large mansion. Arthur sometimes wondered how Kiku got by while he was still alive, and living in such a big building on his own.

He did, though, eventually find his wallet. He was still smirking, inwardly gloating about besting Francis once again, when Gilbert appeared in the doorway.

"H-Hey!" Gilbert breathed, tired after supposedly running. "A-Arthur!"

"Oh, Gilbert," Arthur said. He shoved his wallet into his pocket. "Alfred and Kiku have gone shopping, Francis is, ironically, in the living room, and I don't have any jobs for you right now."

"That's not what I'm here for! Have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"This! Look!" Gilbert pulled a newspaper out of seemingly nowhere. Arthur would have sighed and said that he didn't have time for whatever it was that Gilbert wanted, but the title of the paper stopped him. He stared, eyes wide.

"W-_What?"_

* * *

"Dude, seriously?" Alfred gaped at the Lithuanian man. "There was another murder?"

Toris nodded sadly. "Yes. It happened just yesterday. It's been all over the news; didn't you see it?"

"Um…We don't have a TV at my house…"

"Ah, well…" Toris sighed. "It was just like that death at that restaurant. The victim was found holding a knife and their throat was slashed. Of course, it's being treated as more suspicious this time, but..."

"You guys still think it's a suicide," Alfred practically groaned. He _knew _that the death before had been a murder, but this new one only proved his theory. Why couldn't the police see that? He glanced behind him and gave Kiku a desperate look, and Kiku nodded sympathetically.

They stopped in the narrow hallway and Toris knocked on the door in front of them.

"Feliks?" Toris called. "Cab you open the door for me? My hands are a little full."

There was a muffled voice on the other side of the door. "What's the password?"

"We don't have a password," Toris said, sounding more than a little exasperated. Alfred raised an eyebrow and Kiku stared at the scene worriedly.

The door opened.

"…Correct," said a blond man, presumably Feliks, smiling slightly. At least, Alfred thought he was a man. It was a little hard to tell, since his clothes did not seem entirely masculine…

Feliks noticed Alfred and hid behind the doorframe slightly. "So, like, who's that?" he asked suspiciously.

"This is Alfred," Toris explained, moving past Feliks and entering the flat. Alfred followed. "I accidently hit him with my bike. Alfred, this is my flatmate, Feliks."

"Hey," Alfred said, putting the shopping in his arms down on a nearby table. Toris had done the same previously.

"Whatever."

Feliks was still staring at Alfred a little warily, making the American feel uncomfortable. But then his eyes fell on Kiku.

"Hey, um…" Feliks blinked at the Japanese ghost. "Have you guys, like, disturbed any Asian shrines or something?"

"No." Toris looked at Feliks dubiously. "Why…?"

"Because you've, like, got some Japanese spirit following you… Maybe it's, like, a…um…" Feliks gestured as he tried to think of the word. "Ah, what are they called…An onion?"

"Um…Could you mean, by any chance, an 'onryo'?" Kiku asked politely.

"An onryo!" Feliks clapped his hands together gleefully. "That's totally it!"

Toris shook his head worriedly and patted Alfred's shoulder. The American had been staring at the strange scene in front of him, surprised that the Polish man could see Kiku.

"Sorry about him," Toris said. "Feliks is a little…eccentric, sometimes. Just ignore him when he says things like that." He suddenly seemed to remember something and turned to hurry out of the room. "Oh, right! I needed to get you another bag…"

Alfred glanced back at the other two. Feliks seemed to be talking the ear off a very distressed looking Kiku.

"I've never, like, talked to an onryo before! I heard they're pretty cool when they're not killing people."

"Um, e-excuse me, but I'm not an onr-,"

"Plus, I guess they're, like, better than those weird Chinese ghosts. They're really creepy and stiff and, like, hop around everywhere. Also, they drink your blood and stuff." (Alfred didn't know whether he found this description hilarious or terrifying.)

Alfred tried to step forward, deciding it was time for him to rescue Kiku, but stopped. Something had caught his eye.

Newspaper clippings were pinned to the wall. Examining them, Alfred could see the newspaper containing the details of the murder Toris had informed him about, and the one at the Italian restaurant, stuck to the wall somewhere near the top. They all seemed to have something to do with murders, or death, at least, in some way.

Alfred flinched when he saw an article that he recognised all too well. Most of the words were faded and unintelligible, but there was no mistaking it.

It was the story of the fire that had killed his parents.

He bit his lip. He was going to have nightmares for sure.

"Oh, you're looking at those?" Feliks seemed to have dropped his conversation with the 'onryo'. "Yeah, Toris, like, collects those for some reason…Weird, right?"

"Yeah," Alfred said.

Feliks did not notice any obvious discomfort Alfred was showing. Out of nowhere, he suddenly said, "Hey, like, show me your palm."

Alfred glanced at him. "…Huh?"

"Show me your palm. I've, like, been getting into palm reading lately, but I need someone to, like, practice on. Toris never lets me use his hand, so show me your palm."

Confused and a little dazed, Alfred allowed Feliks to grab his hand. He stared at him sceptically.

"Just so you know, I don't really believe in that weird, supernatural psychic stuff."

Feliks looked up at him. "But the onryo told me you two were, like, friends."

"So…?"

"_So_ don't you count spirits as, like, supernatural?"

"Meh, I've lived with him for a little while now. He just doesn't seem that weird to me anymore."

Feliks make a small 'hm' noise and began tracing the lines on Alfred's palm. Despite everything, Alfred stifled a small laugh and tried to stop his hand from twitching. He knew this was supposed to be some serious mystic moment, but he couldn't help it. It _tickled._

"Huh…" Feliks frowned. "That's odd…"

"What?"

"Well, your life line has, like, been disturbed…It's also, like, joined with this line." Feliks pointed to one of the line's on his palm. Alfred squinted, but they looked the same as they always had. "I think that's, like, the union line…This is just a guess, but I think that, like, suggests great emotional trauma to do with a loved one…Weird…This says it could have been in the past, but it could also be in the future…Or maybe it's happened in the past, but it's also, like, going to happen in the future?" He continued to stare down at Alfred's hand. "And this other line is totally the fate line. I guess that means there are, like, either circumstances that you couldn't control or won't be able to control, or maybe just consequences from your decisions…Also, you're hand's greasy, and that tells me you, like, had fast-food for lunch."

Alfred yanked his hand away, and Feliks let it go without much of a struggle. He hid it behind his back, as if trying to stop him from re-claiming it, even though Feliks made no move to do so.

He had found that…freaky, to say the least. 'Emotional trauma…?' Well, he had definitely been put through enough of that to lock a completely sane person in an insane asylum. But…There was no way Feliks had seen that in his hand, right? He was probably just guessing…Fortune telling just didn't exist…But if Felixs was right…Then did that mean there was just more to come? Damn.

"Feliks-san?" Kiku seemed excited. "Could you read my palm too?"

"Ah, sorry, little onryo. You're dead, so your future probably stopped, like, a long time ago."

Kiku's face fell.

"Oh, but, um…" Feliks stuttered. "I could, like give it a go, you know? I mean, you're still, like, in this world, so I guess you can still, like, have stuff happen to you?"

Alfred turned away when Toris entered the room again.

"I-I'm sorry it took so long!" Toris told him. "I was having trouble finding a bag…"

Alfred accepted the bag he was holding, a little distantly, though, as he was distracted by the eager chatter of Kiku and Feliks.

"Your heart line is crossed…You, like, totally had high blood pressure when you were alive, didn't you?"

"Ah, y-yes, that is correct!"

Alfred tore himself away from that conversation, turning his attention back to Toris. "Thanks," he said. "Hey, um…What's with the newspapers?"

"Oh, I collect them," Toris said simply. "I'm not sure why myself…I guess I just find them interesting? I just…I don't know why, but when I see a newspaper like those, I just end up buying it and putting it on the wall." He laughed. "Strange, right?"

"Um, sure…" Alfred sighed wearily. He was tired; he wanted to go home. He had been put through a lot more strange things than he usually liked. "Thanks again," he said, and turned to the door.

* * *

_Yay update XD Gosh, at first I thought I knew what I was doing with this chapter, but then things kept changing as I continued through it…For one thing, my initial plan was to make Feliks a tarot card reader, but after looking it up I decided this was too complicated and went with palm reading…This turned out to be just as complicated, though XD Sorry if it sounds weird, but my only knowledge of it is what I read on Wikipedia XD _

_So, the next chapter should be on how Arthur and Alfred met! Yay XD I might not be able to update for a little while though, because of exams…And I've also been getting distracted by this awesome game called Virtue's Last Reward lately XD Yeah…Um, so please review and tell me what you think ^_^_


	13. Chapter 13

Alfred woke with a start, panting heavily and eyes darting around the room. When he was convinced that no, the room was not filled with suffocating fire and smoke, he allowed himself to relax.

He sat up slowly, running a hand through his hair with a sigh. Of course.

Well, at least he hadn't woken up screaming and crying like he used to.

Alfred stayed in that position for a few more seconds before moving. He swung his legs to the side and stood. When wondering what the time was the only answer he could give himself was 'early', but there was no way he'd be able to get back to sleep.

He left his room and crept down the hall. It wouldn't have been a good idea to accidently wake up Arthur, and he just knew the Brit would make some kind of fuss if he found out he'd had that nightmare again. Also, he had no idea where Kiku and Francis were, (He was pretty sure they couldn't sleep) and he didn't really want them to know he was awake at such a ridiculous time.

He ended up going to the kitchen. Or at least, the kitchen they used the most. Damn, the house was too big for its own good. Alfred had found it cool at first, but after getting lost for the fifth time, saved by Kiku whenever this happened, it had quickly grown annoying. Why had Kiku needed so many rooms when he was alive in the first place? Hadn't he ever found it lonely?

Deciding it'd be best to distract himself, Alfred made some coffee and grabbed a nearby laptop. Well, really it was Arthur's laptop. The original deal had been something along the lines of, 'You can have the TV as long as I can keep my laptop'…Except, well, the TV had been broken mysteriously, so…

He sat at the kitchen table, sipping his coffee as a feeling of depression set in. No matter how many times he had that dream, it never failed to put him on edge. Ugh, wasn't there a way to stop the dreams without all of the stupid therapy? Maybe he could look it up…

"Oh, good morning, Alfred-san."

Alfred shrieked suddenly, his hand flying out and knocking the coffee mug off the table. It didn't smash, luckily, and Alfred turned to Kiku, both sharing the same wide eyed expression.

"Oh my God…Don't. Do. That. You almost gave me a heart attack…"

After cleaning up the spilt coffee and many hurried apologies, Alfred sat down at the table again, Kiku now sitting opposite him.

"Alfred-san, I'm sor-," Kiku tried to say again, but Alfred held up his hand.

"It's fine, it's fine. I…Well, I was a little tense, so I kind of overreacted."

"I-I see." Kiku shuffled in his seat awkwardly. Deciding to change the subject, he said, "It's rare for you to be up this early, Alfred-san."

"Um, yeah…" Alfred looked away. "I had a nightmare, so…"

"Oh."

Kiku shuffled again, biting his lip. The attempt at conversation wilted to nothing, with the only sound for the next few minutes being Alfred tapping things into the keyboard. Eventually, though, even Alfred was able to realise that Kiku seemed to be holding something back, and he looked at him curiously.

"What's up?"

The Japanese ghost jumped. "Oh, um… I was just, um, wondering…" He definitely had Alfred's full attention now. "It's just…Well, we all live together, but I feel that I don't know very much about you and Arthur-san," Kiku confessed. "I understand that there are probably some things that would be uncomfortable to discuss since we haven't known each other for every long, but…I suppose I'm just curious?" He sighed. "Please excuse me, I…"

"No, no, it's okay. I mean, I've been curious about you too; it's only natural, right?" But as he said this, Alfred felt uneasy. Just as Kiku had said, there were things he'd rather not bring up. "…So, um, what do you want to know?"

"Um…" Kiku mentally scanned through everything that he had even been confused about, trying to ignore the questions that would have been too private to answer. He eventually asked, "…H-How did you and Arthur-san meet?"

Huh. Well, that wasn't _too _bad…Although…

"I-I guess I can tell you about that," Alfred said, lightly scratching the back of his neck. "But it's kind of a long story, you know?"

"I don't mind." Kiku's eyes were now shining with interest and hope.

"Right…Um, I've already told you about my parents, right?

"I believe you once mentioned it briefly."

"I guess that makes things easier...Well, I'm pretty sure that everything started a few weeks after 'that' …"

* * *

_It was sunny. I remember thinking that was strange, since we were at a graveyard. I mean, in movies and stuff, it usually rains at funerals, right?_

_Well, it wasn't a funeral, exactly. The official one had been held around half a week ago. I had still been recovering in the hospital, and no one had thought it'd be a good idea to wait for me to get out first. I was pretty annoyed when I found out, but after a while I found I didn't mind that much. Holding a smaller funeral with just me and Matthew was better anyway. It was more…personal. More private, without a bunch of relatives I'd never even met telling us how sorry they were._

_Oh, right, you don't know Matthew. He's my brother. He was kind of a quiet, shy guy, and he had a bunch of old people imaginary friends when we were kids, but he was usually really nice and polite. People were always telling us how we looked exactly alike, but his hair was longer, and his eyes were more of a purple-y colour. He also wore glasses. I mean, I know _I _wear glasses, but I didn't at the time. My vision was kind of deteriorating at this point though…I guess it'd be another year or so before I needed them? _

_Right. Going off topic. Sorry._

_Anyway, we were just standing there in front of the graves, not really saying anything. I had put some flowers down, but they weren't really that special. My parents had never liked super flashy things, and I didn't have much money anyway, but they ended up looking kind of cheap next to the large amount of pretty multi-coloured bouquets._

_We probably would have stayed like that for a while, just standing there, but then the loud sound of a car horn interrupted the meaningful silence. It was our uncle. He was our closest living relative, so we had to live with him and our auntie. I hadn't seen him since I was, like, five, but Matthew had been staying with him for the past few days. He was actually the one who had driven us to the graveyard for our mock funeral, but he had started to grow impatient._

_In the first ten seconds of the car journey, I already had the impression that my uncle didn't like me very much. It was just the way his eyes would narrow at only me, as if he thought I was some kind of troublemaker. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I scribbled all over the walls in his house with permanent marker…Hey, don't look at me like that, I was a little kid! I couldn't even remember doing it until he brought it up._

_But he tried to be nice to me at first, saying things like, "I understand how hard it must be. My sister was an amazing person…" for about a week. I had been having trouble at the new school Matthew and I had been dumped in, and that gave him reason enough to treat me like the problem child I apparently was._

_School was hell. I didn't know anyone there except for Matthew. And it also suddenly got a lot harder to concentrate in class. I hadn't exactly been a perfect student before, but still…_

_Like my uncle, the teachers tried to be nice at first, but eventually they began accusing me of not even trying. I _was _trying, really, but none of them seemed to realise this. And then there were the fights…Um, yeah, long story short; I got expelled pretty quickly._

_By the time they found a new school to send me to, I also had to see a therapist. You see, besides my 'anger issues', as many people would put it, I also had nightmares. Like, _really bad _nightmares. I had them almost every night, and whenever I did, they always made me wake up screaming and crying, practically hyperventilating. My constant wailing at night was really annoying my uncle, I could tell. The therapy wasn't for my own good; it was just so that he and his wife could get their much needed beauty sleep. Matthew was usually the one who comforted me after the nightmares._

_But I wasn't interested in the therapy. Every therapist I saw was condescending with great big fake smiles. I mean, I knew there was something wrong with me, with the nightmares and the fact that my mood had dropped to the point where I was snappy and cynical and I hadn't really smiled properly since I moved in with my uncle. But the therapists treated me like every little thing I did meant I was mentally disturbed. I could simply ask to sit down and they'd look at me like I was suicidal or something._

_Eventually, even they got tired of me. One of them once said to me, "Alfred, I want to help you, but I can't if you won't talk to me."_

_My answer? I laughed and said, "You want to help me? Alright, then bring my parents back. While you're at it, give me back the past year of my life too."_

_My relationship with my uncle grew worse and worse. Eventually, every 'conversation' I had with him consisted of yelling and screaming, and my auntie just didn't speak to me at all. I also realised at some point that I hadn't really been talking to Matthew that much. I had been kind of preoccupied with getting expelled from pretty much every school I was sent to and my general unhappiness. I knew that it was hard for him too, but I couldn't help but think that he had it a little easier. Our uncle and auntie loved him. They didn't have any children, but he was their ideal son, and I could tell they were thinking of adopting him or something. I was the problem._

_After about a year, I think I had been expelled so many times that no other school would accept me. There was only so much they could blame on my 'traumatic past'. _

_Eventually I was sent away. My uncle had found some kind of therapeutic boarding school that was supposed to be specialised in helping troubled teens. It was far out in the country, and had loads of huge windows that all had a clear view of the gardens and nature and stuff, and the nearest town could only be reached by train, although I don't think my 'family' really cared about that. Well, except maybe Matthew._

_I was shown pictures of the school, snapshots of all of these happy students doing team exercises together, but I didn't buy it. It looked _too _perfect, like they were all paid actors. But of course, no matter how much I said I didn't want to go, no one would listen._

_They saw me off at the train station. Once I arrived in the town, someone from the school was supposed to drive me the rest of the way. _

_Matthew actually looked really sad. He told me to do my best, and maybe not get expelled this time. The last part was kind of a joke, but I could tell that if I did get kicked out again it'd really disappoint him. _

_Just before I got on the train, my uncle grabbed my arm and glared at me with his beady eyes. "This is it," he told me. "I've been patient with you, but you're more trouble than you're worth. If you get expelled again, then you can forget about coming home."_

_That had actually kind of hurt. I had always known he hated me, he never really bothered to hide it, but this was the first time he had practically said it out loud. I mean, wasn't he supposed to care about me or something?_

_After a long train ride and some time in a car with a way too cheery teacher, I finally arrived at the school. I was immediately sent to the head teacher's office. I sat down in front of his desk and he handed me a uniform. He then slicked back his imaginary hair and gave me some long speech about no matter what I had done in past, I would be accepted here, just like all of his students…Honestly, I didn't really listen that much. I was a little distracted. Probably because there was a _human skull _on his desk. I wanted to ask why it was there, but the guy was too absorbed in his own words. So, I just suffered in silence, internally freaking out as the skull grinned at me._

_I hated it there. I'm pretty sure I only stayed there for a month or two, but I really did hate it. No matter how little they tried, I still couldn't concentrate in class. The teachers were obnoxious, the therapists, because everyone there had to see a therapist at least once a day, were really patronising, and my 'classmates' all treated me like a freak. I got into loads of fights with the anger issue kids, the teachers got more and more frustrated with me…_

_Oh, and then there were the ghosts._

_I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but ever since I woke up in the hospital, I could see them. I had always been a little afraid of ghosts, and I hated ghost stories, but for some reason, when I saw them and realised what they were, I just started screaming and running away. Everyone, including the ghosts, thought I was insane, but I really didn't care. _

_The thing was, most of the ghosts _knew _I was afraid. And they _loved_ it. They would play pranks on me, scaring me just because they could, and making me scream in the middle of school or something. After a while, my first reaction to seeing a ghost just became to run away no matter what, and maybe scream a little. It was kind of strange, since I had never been that scared of them before. Arthur said that maybe the stress and trauma of what happened added to some of my already existing fears, since I wasn't afraid of fire or anything, or maybe something happened that I couldn't remember. Either way, I was now terrified of ghosts._

_I never told my family about this. They wouldn't have cared anyway, and I didn't want Matthew to think I had finally lost it. I did bring it up with the therapists a few times though, mainly because I feared for my own sanity. But most of them said that the ghosts were just hallucinations caused by trauma. Some even thought I was just making it up to get attention._

_The boarding school place did make a few attempts at helping me with this problem. I mean, it was an old building, so there were a lot of ghosts. They would call in these weird ghost seer people who were supposed to be specialised in exorcisms and stuff… But they were all fakes. They'd throw holy water or whatever, tell the spirits to make themselves known, and one lady even had an Ouija board. This kind of made things worse though…_

_I told the teachers that they were all phoneys, but I think that was supposed to be the point. If I saw some old people 'getting rid of the ghosts' then I'd think they were gone and stop seeing them. It didn't work, of course. For example, at the school, there had been a spirit of a little girl who would usually follow me around. She had been more annoying than scary, but she had still freaked me out, so I told the latest ghost buster guy about her. His face turned really solemn, he raised his hand, and then he said, "Ah…Yes. I can hear her. The poor girl is crying for her mother…"_

_The ghost girl had stared at him really blankly, and then started laughing loudly. He couldn't hear her though. He then moved to where he said he could 'sense her presence', and began telling her to go re-join her family, that we understand her trauma. The girl snorted, looked at me, and said, "Wow, he's really stupid, isn't he?" It was the first time I had agreed with a ghost._

_But compared to the other guy, she was alright. You see, at the school, there was a story that the man who had founded it many centuries before had been killed by having his head chopped off. He had been buried somewhere in the school gardens, but his head was still missing. I didn't believe, not at first, but… then I saw him. He was headless and everything. He was dressed in really old clothes, and he was actually still bleeding from the stump that was his neck. Even if I hadn't been afraid of ghosts, it was almost enough to make me sick._

_The headless ghost just suddenly appeared one day. He definitely hadn't been there for the first few weeks of school. At the time, I blamed the Ouija board. I also noticed that he liked to haunt the head teacher's office, but he didn't really do anything there. He would just stare at a wall (Sort of. He didn't really have the eyes for that…) and after that he'd wander around the halls before leaving the building entirely. He went through this every day like clockwork._

_Even though I really didn't want anything to do with him, I followed him out of the school once. That's how I figured out where his grave was. But yeah, every other time I saw him I'd just scream and run. _

_The teachers soon noticed that the amount of times I fled the school building had increased, and they were beginning to grow desperate. Maybe that was why they called him._

_I was called to the head teacher's office one day. I wasn't really sure what to expect; maybe he was going to yell at me for getting in another fight, or maybe there was another old exorcist person. …Well, the last one was sort of true…_

_I opened the door, and there he was. I remember being surprised by how young he looked. I mean, if it wasn't for the lack of uniform, I would have thought he was just another student. _

_The head teacher saw me and smiled a fake smile. "Ah, Alfred. Come, sit down," he said, gesturing to a seat. "This is Arthur Kirkland. He's going to help you with your 'ghost' problem."_

_I found this kind of shocking. Like I said earlier, he was young. All of the other exorcist people had been really old and really insane and dressed weirdly, but Arthur…wasn't. His clothes were kind of casual, but not a messy casual. He was standing up a bit straight and tense, though, so he was obviously there for something important, but he didn't seem like the type of guy who'd be into all of that occult stuff…_

_The head teacher told Arthur about my 'problem'. Again, I wasn't really listening. The skull was grinning at me again, and I glared back at it. I didn't want to look at the creepy thing, so I ended up looking everywhere else, even at Arthur. _

_I decided that he was probably another fake. Maybe he was just low on money, and he was scamming little old ladies into paying him to help their dead husbands move on as a joke. It was either that, or he was insane like the rest. I didn't think for one second that he could actually see them too._

_I remember noticing a few scars. Things like deep scratches and a few bruises were littering his bare skin. Even before I actually knew him, I thought this was strange. …What, you've never noticed before? Well, this was four years ago, so I guess they're kind of faded by now…But I've noticed that sometimes he just gets a random scar from nowhere. He'll mention something about a broken window, or an accident, but…_

_Anyway, the head teacher told me that I had to stay with Arthur for the day and that I was excused from lessons before he left us alone. Arthur immediately got down to business, and began asking me questions about the ghost. I wasn't in a good mood though, and I wanted him to slip up and do something that proved he was a fake, so I ended up being as unhelpful as possible. _

_I did tell him that there was a headless ghost wandering around though. After that, I was dragged through the school, with Arthur trying to get answers from me about where I saw the ghost. I just said something super vague though, and Arthur quickly grew more and more annoyed with me. After about an hour, we were both very irritable._

_Then the little ghost girl appeared again. She did what she usually did, which was run up to me and ask me to play with her. Since she wasn't really that scary compared to the other ghosts, my reaction to her wasn't as violent, but I was still uncomfortable, and I stiffened and backed away slightly._

_But the next part stunned me. Arthur smiled at the girl, went down to his knees and started talking to her. My mouth kind of fell open, and I just stood there in silence for a few seconds. _

_Arthur asked her something along the lines of, "Do you know anything about a headless ghost? This idiot isn't any help…" The girl nodded and told him where the ghost would haunt. She moved away from Arthur, smiled at me, and then vanished somewhere._

_I was still staring at Arthur._

"_What?" he asked me._

_I shook off the daze I was in and said, "…You could see her?"_

_Arthur didn't look impressed. "Of course I could," he told me. "I can see ghosts. I wouldn't exactly have this job if I couldn't."_

_I didn't know what to say. For almost a year at this point, I had been questioning my own sanity because of what I could see. This was the first time I had met anyone who could actually see ghosts too. I was happy; this was proof I wasn't crazy. I might have only known him for the better part of an hour, but I had the sudden urge to hug him. I didn't, but still._

_We ended up searching the rest of the school, but by the end of the day there was no sign of the headless ghost. For whatever reason, it just didn't show up. Maybe it knew we were looking for it? Anyway, we were both getting very annoyed and snappy and just plain tired._

_Eventually we had to quit. Arthur turned to me and told me that we'd meet again tomorrow to continue looking. Before he left, I stopped him and asked, "So, how are you going to get rid of it?"_

_Arthur looked at me and scowled. "I'm not 'getting rid of' him. I'm helping him move on."_

_I rolled my eyes and said, "Whatever. How are you going to make it 'move on'? Also, what about the other ghosts?"_

_He stood there thoughtfully for a few seconds. "Well, I think focusing on just one ghost first would be best. And since you said his head is missing, that means that it is very likely that the head of his physical body is missing too. This should mean that the best way to appease him would be to find his head and return it."_

_I was left with this new information. I lay in bed that night, listening to the snores of the other students, and I decided that if I wanted to get rid of that creepy ghost I was going to have to 'appease' it myself. _

_So I snuck out. In the middle of the night, I got dressed and slipped into the caretaker's shed. That guy always forgot to lock it, so I grabbed a shovel and made my way to the headless ghost's grave. _

_I started digging. …H-Hey! I had to do it, alright? I was desperate! What else was I supposed to do? A-Anyway, I dug for a while, taking a break once or twice since digging up someone's grave turned out to be very tiring. _

_Eventually I hit something. A coffin. I had been expecting it to be locked or something, but it actually opened pretty easily. Maybe some grave robbers broke the lock or something._

_I couldn't look for long. I had never really been a fan of dead things, but that was just plain disgusting. I saw that it had no head, and that was the main thing._

_Then someone tapped my shoulder. I shrieked and spun around, thinking that it was the ghost or something, but no, it was Arthur._

_He was staring at me very weirdly. Then again, he had just caught me digging up someone's grave._

"…_What are you doing?" he eventually asked._

"_What does it look like?" I countered defensively. "I dug up his grave. It's definitely his, so now I've just got to get the head and return it, right?"_

_Arthur continued to stare at me for a few seconds. I could tell that he was trying to think of something to say, one of his options probably being, 'Dear God, you're _insane._'_

_After a while, he sighed and asked, "Do you even know where the head is?"_

_I actually did have an idea. I had always found that skull on the head teacher's desk creepy, but now I had a reason. It had to be that ghost's head._

_I told Arthur where I thought it was and we both headed back to the school. I would have been fine with completing this task on my own, but he insisted on going with me. He was probably worried I'd break something and get arrested or something. I was still holding the shovel._

_I never liked school on a good day, but at night it was terrifying. There was some kind of thick silence that neither of us wanted to interrupt, and our footsteps echoed really loudly. It was dark, but we didn't try to turn on the light. I'm not really sure why._

_After a while, we reached the head teacher's office. Except…it was locked. I felt really stupid at the time, I mean, that was surely something I should have seen coming. _

_I felt really disappointed, and didn't know if I should try to kick the door down or just turn back. But then Arthur rolled his eyes, pulled out some small metal thing that looked like a tiny hairpin or a straight paperclip, and then started to _pick the lock.

_I gaped at him for the second time that day. He seriously didn't seem to like the type of person who'd know how to do that. I _still _don't know why he knew how to pick a lock, and I've not seen him do it since. But it worked. There was a clicking noise and Arthur smiled as he opened the door._

_It might have been dark, but the office looked the same as ever. The mahogany desk sat in its usual place and, especially after what I had just done, reminded me of a coffin. Moonlight from the window beamed down, shining on the grinning skull. I rushed over and picked it up, although a little reluctantly, and handed the skull to Arthur. "That's it," I told him._

_He held it carefully, examining it. After a while, he sighed and looked up at me. "Alfred…This is fake," he said._

…

_I blinked. "It's…What?"_

"_It's fake," Arthur explained. "Not real."_

_Yeah. I didn't want my idea to be proven wrong so quickly, so I crossed my arms and huffed, "How do you know?"_

_He gave it to me before calmly saying, "It says, 'Made in China' on the bottom."_

…_I don't think I'd ever felt so stupid in my life. I looked away, my face red with humiliation. I put the skull back on the desk, suddenly feeling very depressed._

_But then I had an idea. I was really grasping now, but I didn't care. Arthur was looking at me with a weird mix of pity and humour, and I just wanted to prove that I wasn't an idiot. I had noticed in the past that the headless ghost would always 'stare' at a certain wall, so maybe…_

_Before Arthur even realised what I was doing, I swung the shovel. The wall was old, so part of it crumbled pretty easy when I hit it._

_Arthur was a little shocked. He started babbling random stuff, having trouble forming actual words, before finally hissing, "Are you mad? What the hell do you think you're doing?"_

_I didn't say anything. I simply grinned and searched inside the hollow wall. I found what I was looking for pretty quickly._

_I held up it up, ignoring the large amount of dust and cobwebs that had emerged with it. "Is this one real?" I asked Arthur, wanting to make sure as I handed him the skull._

_He looked at this one too, examining it, but eventually he bit his lip and nodded._

_It seemed like things were looking up. All we had to do now was return the skull and then the headless ghost would be happy and leave. _

_Then we went out into the hallway. _

_The ghost was waiting for us. Arthur saw him first and tried to drag me the other way. If he wasn't, well, headless, then I would have thought he was watching us._

_I stepped forwards and held up the skull. I just wanted to get it over with. Arthur tried to stop me, but I wouldn't listen. So I yelled, "Hey! We've got your head!" I was waving the skull around too, as if I thought he was just going to walk right up to me and take it._

_But then something odd happened. The air grew kind of…heavy. It was like we were suddenly in a thunderstorm or something._

_And the ghost screamed._

_It was an inhuman sound, high pitched, and we immediately had to cover our ears. But that wasn't the end of it. As the sound continued, each and every one of the windows in the hall shattered suddenly, scattering glass everywhere. _

_Arthur grabbed my wrist and told me to run._

_So we did. We rushed to the over end of the hall, away from the ghost. I was still holding the skull for some reason, even though I was sure that any sane person would have had enough sense to drop it by now. _

_But we didn't get far. We were still in the hall when we saw the others. Maybe the scream had alerted them or something, but there were a bunch of angry looking ghosts blocking the exit. _

_The headless ghost was walking towards us, so Arthur tried to drag me forwards again. It was pretty obvious that we wouldn't be able to talk the spirits blocking our way into moving though. They seemed less…human than the other ghosts I had seen, and they were kind of doing their best to surround us and clawing at us. This was making it harder and harder for me and Arthur to continue. At this point, I was panicking slightly._

_Arthur stopped suddenly and held out his hand. It went through one of the ghosts, and after a few quick seconds the ghost suddenly vanished. I would have asked how he did that, but Arthur was shaking his head as if he was in some kind of daze. Another one moved forwards and took its place, so Arthur tried it again. This time he actually cried out, clutching his head in obvious pain._

_He must have realised doing that again would be a bad idea, so he grabbed my wrist again and tried to pull me out of the mob of ghosts. But I couldn't move. I just…froze suddenly. I was terrified. There were too many of them. I-I was starting to see fire…I…_

_A-Anyway, I was snapped out of it when Arthur pushed me to the side. We were near one of the broken windows, and we both realised that was probably our best escape route at the moment. There was still some broken glass, but we managed to get through it with only a few small cuts…_

_We were outside. But… I guess it should have been obvious to us, but ghosts are intangible. They walked right through the walls, and we had to run. _

_But…Well, at some point we got separated. I think one of us took a wrong turn or something. I wasn't too worried, since we both knew where the grave was. I was more concerned about the homicidal ghosts chasing me. _

_So, after about five minutes of non-stop running and getting lost a couple of times, I finally neared the grave. Arthur was already there, and he looked kind of worried._

_I figured that the sooner the head was returned then the sooner the ghosts would leave me alone. So I screamed Arthur's name threw the skull to him._

…_Except, he didn't look up in time. And I had thrown it a little too hard. Anyway, the skull kind of hit Arthur's head. He swayed slightly, and then he actually fell back into the grave._

_I groaned and slowed down slightly. But then I remembered, 'Oh yeah. Murderous ghosts are after me.' I kept running and I dived into the grave next to Arthur._

_He was still awake. He was just a little…out of it. The skull had fallen next to him, and I grabbed it cautiously. I asked, "So do I reattach it to the body or something?"_

_Arthur stared at me blankly, but nodded._

_So I did. I grabbed the skeleton, flinching and gagging a little, and forced the skull on. _

_At first, nothing happened. Arthur had finally come to his senses, and we were sort of just staring at each other. We weren't being attack by crazy ghosts, so had it worked?_

_Eventually, we slowly crawled out of the grave. Nothing. They were gone. Well, expect for one._

_The headless ghost was still there. Again, it was almost like it was staring at us. Silent seconds passed, but then it moved forwards. _

_We were getting ready to run again, but the ghost stopped and bowed. It was like it was thanking us or something. I blinked at it, confused._

_And then it vanished._

_There was some nervous but relieved laughing after that. We had done it, we had actually done it! The ghost was gone, and neither of us was dead or horribly injured or whatever. …But our relief didn't last long. You see, the head teacher had heard a lot of suspicious noises and went down to the school. He saw all of the broken windows, the open door to his office, the whole in his wall…He obviously thought we were some crazy vandals. When me and Arthur came back to the building, he found us pretty quickly, and he was furious._

_He kind of screamed at us. He was going to call the police straight after, I could tell. We couldn't exactly deny that we did it; we were both covered in mud and cuts so we were pretty suspicious no matter what we said. I decided that after everything that happened, the two of us were probably going to prison. I knew my uncle wouldn't care, and would probably say that he knew it'd happen sooner or later, but Matthew…_

_The phone rang. The head teacher stopped yelling at us, scowled at the phone, then at us, a little suspiciously, and answered it._

_Something kind of odd happened. I don't know what the person on the other end of the call was saying, but the head teacher's face grew really pale suddenly. I could see Arthur smirking next to me, so he obviously knew something about it._

_The head teacher eventually slammed the phone down and glared at us. He growled through gritted teeth, "Fine. I won't involve the police. But I expect _someone _to pay for these damages."_

_Arthur nodded, a little weakly. Neither of us mentioned the dug up grave, just in case he didn't know._

_And then the head teacher turned to me. "And you. You are no longer welcome here. I've seen teenagers with problems, but you are a lost cause!"_

_That seemed like a good enough cue to leave. I stormed out of the office. I could actually hear Arthur arguing with him, standing up for me, which was kind of nice of him, I guess._

_He caught up with me at some point and gave me a slip of paper. "Keep this," Arthur told me. "Just…In case you need help. I know being able to see them can be hard sometimes, so…" I just nodded and took it, glancing at it briefly before stuffing the paper in my pocket. It was his number and address._

_I didn't bother staying the night at that school. I made it to the nearest town and took a train, heading back to my uncle's, but I wasn't going to stay there long. Even if I had wanted to, my uncle had made it pretty clear that I wouldn't be welcomed. _

_It was almost morning when I arrived there. Surprisingly, I wasn't tired, which was weird considering what I had been through. _

_The door was unlocked, although it wasn't until later that I realised Matthew had probably left it open for me. I carefully moved through the house and went to my 'room'. I wasn't staying; I was only there to pick up my stuff. Mainly just things I found important, some clothes, and a few video games. If I had it my way, I would have just left without seeing anyone. But at some point, I turned around and Matthew was there. _

_He was staring at me sadly. He could see the bag I had packed. _

_This was exactly why I hadn't wanted to say goodbye. _

"_I'm sorry, Mattie," I tried to say, speaking quietly so that I didn't wake up anyone else. "The school…"_

_He interrupted me with a quiet, "I know. They called a few hours ago." He looked at my bag and slowly asked, "…You're leaving?"_

"_Yeah," I said, "Sorry. You know he'd just kick me out if I did."_

_Matthew shook his head. "He can't do that...We're family." But even he seemed to have some trouble believing this._

"_Even if he didn't force me out, you know he'd just ship me off to some other boarding school!" I ended up snapping. "I can't stay here, Matthew! I'm sick of this place anyway!" I hadn't meant it that way, but I could already see the hurt in my brother's eyes. I looked away and rushed past him, heading for the front door. I could hear a few other people stirring, but I decided to ignore them and ran outside. I didn't look back._

…_But I had nowhere to go. All I had was my bag and a little bit of money. For about an hour, I just walked forwards, but everything that had happened was beginning to catch up with me. I was tired, homeless, and more depressed than ever._

_I wasn't stupid. I knew that at some point I'd probably have to turn back. But I didn't want to go crawling back straight away, so I pulled out my wallet from my pocket, wondering if I had enough money for a hotel or something. _

_The paper Arthur had given me fell out._

_I grabbed it. I had honestly forgotten all about that. I didn't have my phone, but as I blinked at the address, I realised that it actually wasn't that far. I looked up. The wind was blowing, as if it was pulling me in that direction._

_So I walked._

* * *

"…Except, it turned out that Arthur's apartment was further than I thought. A lot further." Alfred laughed awkwardly. "He found me collapsed outside of his door, begging for sleep and food. He dragged me inside, and after that, I guess I just never left."

Kiku stared at Alfred, eyes wide. "Amazing, Alfred-san…To have endured so many hardships…"

"Well, I wouldn't call them 'hardships'…But anyway, after I started living with Arthur, I began feeling happier. I even started having the nightmares less and less."

"I see. So…What happened to your brother?"

Alfred's expression darkened. "Oh…Well, I haven't seen him since." He noticed Kiku's guilty expression, and quickly said, "It was my fault. I could have called him, I could have told him where I was, but…I didn't. I don't know why…"

"Oh…" Kiku panicked slightly, wondering if he had upset Alfred. In an attempt to lighten the mood, he asked, "I-Is it really true that you hit Arthur-san with that skull?"

Alfred immediately grinned. "Yeah! I actually laughed about it with him after I woke up. Well, _he _wasn't laughing, and he also had a huge bump where the skull had hit him, and I'm pretty sure he said he went to the hospital about it, but still!"

Kiku smiled, listening as Alfred continued on and on. He felt a little guilty about making Alfred bring it up, especially when it seemed to have trouble him at times, but he was also happy. He felt like he knew a little bit more about Alfred and Arthur. He felt that he wasn't completely out of the loop anymore.

He felt like he was truly their friend.

* * *

_I think this is the longest chapter I have ever written…XD Um…I'm sorry if the ending sounded kind of cheesy, but I just didn't know how to end it…Does anyone else ever have that problem? o_O _

_Anyway, this is Alfred's past ^0^ I'm sorry if it seemed kind of skimmed over or it didn't go into too much detail, but Alfred was literally narrating it, so I was trying to make it seem like he really was telling the story to Kiku…Again, sorry :( _

_Thank you to 13PairsOfWings who looked through this and gave me some suggestions before I published it X3 The suggestions also helped me notice a few mistakes I missed XD _

_Anyway, please review and tell me what you think ^_^_


	14. Chapter 14

It had been almost a month since the second 'suicide'. After weeks without event, any shock and confusion died down, and everyone went back to their daily lives. The police soon decided that there truly was nothing suspicious about the two cases. Especially since there had been no sign of forced entry, the only fingerprints found on the weapons belonged to the deceased, and victims did not know each other. The fact that the two deaths practically mirrored each other's had to be a coincidence.

That was what everyone said until the third body turned up.

She was found in a casino. Just like the other victims, her throat had been slit and the offending weapon was found in her hand. The only fingerprints found were her own, and there were no obvious signs of a struggle. The only difference seemed to be that this body was found at least two cities away from the others.

This addition still made it a little hard for the police to label all three cases as suicides.

The town where the original body, Julius Vargas, had been found was rather small; news and rumours travelled quickly. Only a day after the police revisited the case and began investigating properly, interviewing those who knew Julius and looking more into his background, people started talking. Everyone who had considered Julius a pleasant and friendly man suddenly started wondering out loud what kind of person he could have really been, and asking if maybe his sudden death was his past catching up with him. It wasn't true, of course. But there was one question everyone almost feared asking; if these weren't suicides, would the killer strike again?

Arthur thought about this question over and over as he moved past rows of graves. He had heard Alfred telling Kiku and Gilbert that it could have been a ghost. Maybe that was why there weren't any witnesses. Maybe some angry spirit could have possessed them and made them kill themselves.

But The Englishman honestly wasn't sure. Spirits full of hate could harm and kill the living, but they would usually haunt a single place. It was common for a vengeful ghost to lack tactical thought and would mainly attack people who disturbed their place of rest or those who had wronged them in life. But these deaths… there was something too 'perfect' about them. It was strange for a ghost to travel so far to target only certain people, and the way they were killed just seemed so… strange. If Alfred was right, then this was obviously no ordinary ghost…

…And why would a ghost have killed those three? How were they connected?

Francis almost seemed to float as he trailed after him. Glancing back at him, Arthur decided that Francis was lucky he hadn't died in something ridiculous. His clothes were smart, possibly because of a business-like job, and he would be stuck in them until the day he moved on.

"Out of all the places you could have taken a morning walk," Francis said suddenly, snapping Arthur out of his thoughts, "why did you choose a graveyard? I know you're a naturally morbid person, but still…"

Arthur's face set into its normal scowl. "You didn't have to follow me."

"Well, I didn't have much choice. My options were either this, 'investigating' with Alfred and Kiku, or haunting that house all alone… What _are _Alfred and Kiku investigating, exactly?"

"The murders," Arthur said. "Alfred wants to be a hero and stop who or whatever's doing this, and he's made Kiku his unwilling sidekick. Kiku's just too polite to complain." He sighed. "I don't know what he thinks he's going to find. As far as I know, he's just going to interrogating anyone he deems suspicious. He's even been researching the people who were murdered."

"Oh? Has he found anything?"

"Nothing useful. He ran up to me last night and told me the woman who had been found in the casino was originally from Monaco. This was a major breakthrough for him, apparently."

Francis blinked but said nothing.

"…So," Francis said after a pause. There was a strange look in his eyes. "Why are we in a graveyard? Is this a hint you want me to leave? It wouldn't be the first time."

"It's quiet here," Arthur explained. "It's easier to think. Also, the ghosts here are usually friendly."

"Wow." Francis laughed. "You need friends."

"I _have _friends!"

"I mean friends who don't have the same creepy interests as you. And who aren't dead."

Arthur opened his mouth to give a curt reply, but Francis spoke first. "You've been like this ever since you were a child. I suppose the only difference is that you were much quieter back then, and you weren't as nice to ghosts. Remember? I think the first proper friends you made were Lukas and Vlad; and that was only because they could see the supernatural too. If you think about it, you would have been all alone if they were normal."

Arthur frowned. Why was Francis acting so… _odd_? It was normal for him to try and annoy the Brit, but the French ghost was acting strangely malicious. "That wasn't my fault. I couldn't make friends, everyone avoided me."

"Ah, yes. The rumours. Those things started just after your first home, I believe. Because of that, everyone was terrified of you. No one would go near you. Even the social worker seemed jumpy around you. And I don't blame them." Francis smiled, a little _too_ sweetly.

Arthur stared at him. "I… Francis?"

"And then there's Alfred." The smile grew. "I wonder, what makes him special? I heard him telling Kiku how the two of you met. You knew him for a day- _one day_ -and you were willing to let him stay with you. I could maybe understand for a night, but Alfred has been with you for four years and it doesn't look like either of you want to change that anytime soon. Why is that?"

"I…" Arthur started, "I was just…"

"Were you lonely? Or did you just like the feeling of someone actually needing you? After all, it's not like anyone's ever-"

"Hey~! Mr Voice!" They both froze. Francis stared at something behind Arthur. "You know, you shouldn't say things like that."

Arthur turned. Standing in front of him, holding a bouquet of flowers and giving Francis an oddly stern look, was Feliciano Vargas.

"I know that when you and the other voices feel upset you start taking it out on others," Feliciano continued with a pout, "but you really shouldn't do that. You'll regret it when you calm down."

Francis frowned. He ran a hand through his hair. "I... What was I…?"

"See?" Feliciano said. He smiled. "Maybe you should take a walk to clear your head. I like to eat pasta and ice-cream when I'm sad," he frowned slightly, "but I don't think that'd work for you."

"I… Yes, I see." Francis seemed confused. With a distant look, he moved past Arthur and Feliciano and phased through a couple of graves. He gave Arthur what could have been an apologetic glance before drifting out of sight.

"…Thanks…" Arthur said awkwardly.

"It's fine, it's fine~," Feliciano sang. "Don't blame him though. The voices aren't as in control of their emotions as we are, so when they get angry or upset they start acting weirdly and try to hurt other people. At least, that's what the other voices tell me. I'm sure he didn't mean what he said."

"Right, I know that." Arthur nodded. Francis's words had stabbed him with unease and hurt, and he was only just starting to relax. "It was just unexpected. He was his normal annoying self just a few minutes ago."

"Maybe there's something bothering him?"

"I don't know." Arthur finally noticed the flowers. "Are… are they for your grandfather?"

"Yep!" Feliciano said cheerfully. He pointed to a grave that was practically buried in flowers. "That's where Grandpa is. My big brother and I have been visiting every day. I wanted to visit with him, but big brother is awkward about things like that, so he only comes here early in the morning, when there's no one else."

"I-I see."

"Um…" Feliciano's face fell. Even his hair curl seemed to droop. "About Grandpa… In the past, if someone I knew died, I could still hear their voice. Even if big brother couldn't see them, I could hear them, although their voices would be kind of faint, but… I-I can't hear Grandpa."

"Maybe he's passed on already?"

Feliciano shook his head. "It's not that… It can't be… But I've been listening and listening, and I can never hear his voice…" His lower lip trembled. "Doesn't he want to talk to me?"

"Feliciano…" Arthur sighed. "Listen, I'm sure your grandfather cared about you very much, and still does. There has to be some other reason you can't contact him."

"L-Like…?"

"I don't know. Ghosts are complicated. I've been trying to understand them for years, and so far that's the only conclusion I've come to." Arthur added a small laugh in an attempt to stop the sense of dread. It wasn't unheard of for ghosts to move on straight after death, though they usually had to have had a fulfilling or peaceful life. They didn't have regrets and didn't feel their life was unfairly cut short. After being murdered so suddenly, it seemed almost strange that at least some part of Julius's conscience had not remained.

For the next few seconds, Feliciano simply stared at Arthur in silence. Then he slowly started to smile.

"They were right," he said, suddenly cheerful again. "The voices were right! Even though you're scary and grumpy, you're actually really nice deep down."

"… 'Scary'?"

"Yep!~ The voices were saying lots of strange things about you, but they also said you're a good person." Feliciano's smile faltered briefly. "Um… About one of the things they said… How do you stop them? The voices, I mean."

Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… I suppose everyone has a different method. For me, I imagine there's some kind of dome around me. That's what I've done ever since I was a child. It stops the ones I can't see, at least. But…" he smiled grimly. "Sometimes if I feel angry or frustrated, and occasionally ill, a few of them slip through. It's only a few, but they always give me such a damn headache…"

"Ve… I guess I should try that." His grip on the bouquet of flowers tightened. "I know asking about this probably sounds a little weird, but… it's scary. Usually there are only one or two voices, and they tell me useful things, but sometimes there are lots and lots and I feel like I can't handle it, and sometimes I blackout, and when I wake up I'm either with big brother or in Ludwig's arms, and they tell me I was saying a lot of weird things, but I can't remember any of it." Feliciano's tone had sounded more and more frantic as he continued. He took in a shuddered breath before speaking again. "If…If that keeps happening to me… Will I end up like her?"

The only thing Arthur could do was look at Feliciano sadly. He did not question how the shivering Italian had come to know something like that. He could only give his honest answer.

"I don't know."

* * *

"Gotcha!" Alfred jumped out and grabbed a nearby man, who yelped in response. Gilbert stood next to him, a proud smirk on his lips. "Where were you on the afternoon of…um…" Alfred trailed off. He turned his head towards a nearby alleyway. "Yo, Kiku! When was Julius Vargas murdered?"

Kiku peered from around a corner. "I told you, Alfred-san, I don't know."

"Really? Ugh…" He looked at Gilbert, but the older man only shook his head. "Look, guys, we've got to get our facts together if this is going to work."

"But Kiku said this was _your _idea," Gilbert replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, well-"

The man in Alfred's iron tight grip started struggling. "L-Listen," he stuttered, "I don't know anything. Let me go."

"Not until you tell us where you were last month!"

"Alfred-san," Kiku neared them cautiously, deciding the poor man probably couldn't see him, "I think you have to be a little more specific."

"Right, er…" Alfred thought about this. "Were you in the vicinity of the restaurant Buono Tomato at any point last month?"

"N-No!"

"Okay…" Alfred used one hand to pull out a map. A small town, the closest to their own, had been circled in red. "Did you visit this area at all last month?"

"Well, yes…" Alfred glanced at Gilbert and the albino smiled back. "B-But it's not what you think! I was there for a funeral; I don't know anything about this murder!"

"Woah! Wait, wait, wait, wait, _wait." _Gilbert placed a hand on the man's shoulder. His eyes narrowed. "Who said anything about a murder?"

"H-He did! Just now. He called to someone called Kiku and asked when someone was murdered!"

"Hmm… I don't know." Gilbert was obviously enjoying himself. "He still seems pretty suspicious to me…"

"Oh please, just let me go! I didn't do anything, I promise!"

Alfred sighed in defeat. He released the man. "Okay, fine, but if I find out you really did have something to do with this, then you'll be in a lot of trouble, mister. Understand?"

The man didn't reply. He was currently running away at full speed.

"I think we scared him."

"I know, right?" Gilbert laughed and yanked Alfred into the alleyway they had been hiding in previously.

"Alfred-san, Gilbert-san, I think you're having too much fun with this," Kiku told them sternly.

"Hey, if either of you have a better way to catch the murderer I'd love to hear it."

Gilbert frowned. "Didn't you say you thought the murderer was a ghost?"

"Yeah, but maybe the evil spirit's possessing someone and we'll end up grabbing the guy they've got control of or something." Alfred's eyes were glittering with excitement. "Or maybe the ghost will hear about us looking for it, sense a challenge, and then they'll come right to us!"

"And then what? No offense, but you run away whenever you see a ghost you're not friends with."

"Meh, I'll figure it out when we get there, and just so you know, I don't _always _run away. Especially not recently. I've been training myself!" Alfred grinned and posed.

"Really? Okay, then let's go to the graveyard right now."

"Hell no." Alfred clapped his hands together. "'Kay guys, that was our tenth suspect. What do you all say to nabbing another one?!"

"Yeah!" Gilbert punched the air, but then paused. "Ten? I swear we've been through eight or something…"

"I talked to, like, two other people before you showed up."

Kiku sighed, wondering how it had turned out this way. Alfred had promised they wouldn't do anything reckless. Although his methods of 'interrogation' might not have been the best, things only really started escalating when Gilbert showed up.

"Quick, hide!" Gilbert said suddenly, bringing the ghost out of his thoughts. "Someone's coming."

They pushed themselves against the wall. Kiku also tried to conceal himself, even though the chances of anyone being able to see him were slim.

"Right…" Alfred muttered. "Three…Two…" He leaped out into the open. "Gotcha!" he yelled again, latching onto this man's scarf and recognising them a little too late.

Ivan Braginski smiled down at him.

…_Damn._

Alfred released the Russian's scarf. There might have been something he didn't like about Ivan, but he knew that upsetting the chief of police wasn't exactly a good idea. He just had to hope Ivan hadn't seen Alfred's interrogation attempts.

He looked back towards the alleyway hopefully. It was useless, though. Gilbert and Kiku had both fled at the sight of the Russian policeman.

"Oh." Ivan's smile widened. "I remember you. You were there at the first crime scene."

He just couldn't keep his mouth shut. "So you finally admit it was a murder?" Alfred said without thinking. He suddenly didn't care whether he upset Ivan or not, there was something about the man that put Alfred on edge.

"Yes." It was faint, but Ivan's smile wavered. "The latest body does point to a possible murderer. However, we cannot say for sure until we find actual evidence."

"What? The bodies aren't enough for you?"

Ivan continued to beam at Alfred, his bruise coloured eyes briefly scanning the American. "Listen…" he said in a sudden sweet tone, "I think I may have left a bad impression when I first met you. I said some mean things, but you should understand that I was in a bad mood. I'm usually not like that at all." Still smiling, he held out a gloved hand. "Let's start over. I am Chief Ivan Braginski."

Alfred grabbed the hand hesitantly. "…Alfred F. Jones."

"Right. Well then, Alfred, I should take me leave. I have some… business to take care of." Ivan let go of Alfred's hand. "Make sure to call me if you see anything suspicious, okay? Your type is always a magnet for trouble." Ivan laughed, his eyes staring into Alfred's the entire time. Long after the Russian had left, that laughter was still ringing in his ears.

He might not have discovered anything new, but there was one thing Alfred was certain of. He did _not _trust Ivan Braginski.

* * *

_Chapter end_

_Finally managed to write this X3 It's weird, but whenever I have a set plan for a chapter, I seem to drift off that plan when I actually get round to writing it o_O This happens almost every time I write something…XD So, yeah, this chapter was a little different in my head XD _

_But what could be the cause of these mysterious deaths? :O And what made Francis act that way, and what was Feliciano talking about? And is Ivan really up to something…? It will be a while before these questions are answered, sorry XD _

_Anyway, please review and tell me what you think ^0^_


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